A Fox Against the World
by CypherPen
Summary: AU Ayakashi: Ryusaki is a Pipe Fox who feels that his race aren't meant to be greater than themselves. However, when fate decides otherwise and thrusts him into a world of warfare, slavery, and revolution, can he muster enough faith in himself to make his mark on the world while, at the same time, face powerful enemies that no other Pipe Fox could ever face without dying horribly?
1. Prologue: A Fox's Beginning

**Disclaimer: I own none of the works belonging to Zynga, the maker of Ayakashi: Ghost Guild, neither do I own any of the characters nor places inside said game, save for those imagined and created by me.**

**Author's Notes: Hello Ayakashi fans! Personally, I'd never thought that a mobile game would have its own fan fiction writers! Anyway, the story will take place in the Spirit World, though occasionally it will switch to the Physical World as the story progress. Enjoy!**

**Prologue: A Fox's Beginning**

**Lone house located about two miles southwest of the village of Hajimiya, in the province of Haitsuuko**

**The Spirit World**

"Onii-sama! Onii-sama! Dinner's ready!"

Looking up from a manga, Ryusaki studied his baby sister for a moment, his purple eyes trailing over the soft face of the younger Pipe Fox. Finally with a light sigh, he smiled at her and closed the book.

"Okay Kimi-chan," he finally said to her. "I'll be there in just a minute."

Returning the smile, Kimi ran back to rejoin the rest of the family. Crawling out of the large bamboo pipe that was his sleeping place, Ryusaki stood up and stretched his arms. Behind him, his large, broad tail also stretched, spreading itself out like a large fan. Taking a deep breath, Ryusaki glanced at a painting sitting in a small easel on top of a small dresser nearby. In the ink painting was Ryusaki himself, his little sister Kimi, his older sister Ryonami, his oldest sister Tamuya, and his mother. There seemed to be another person in the painting who Ryusaki later decided to blot out with white paint. Looking at that very spot with feelings of bitterness and betrayal, Ryusaki snapped out of his musings before making his way toward the dining area.

His family was already sitting cross-legged around the low table when Ryusaki arrived. His mother smiled warmly at him as he took his place on her left. After he settled down, everyone shouted, "_Itadakimasu!_"before eating. Picking up a pea with his chopsticks, Ryusaki stared at the empty spot on his mother's other side as he popped it into his mouth, trying to forget that humiliating event two years ago that resulted in his entire family being branded as traitors by the other Pipe Foxes in Hajimiya, forcing them to live in isolation from the village. During those hard years, his family was forced to walk up to six miles to other villages for both food and education. All of this wouldn't have happened if his selfish father hadn't...

Feeling a hand clasped his right shoulder, Ryusaki looked up to see his mother looking into his eyes, her own filled with understanding and sadness. Ryusaki noticed a small tear forming in the corner of her right eye. Ryusaki's tail perked up slightly when he sensed a strong wave of sadness coming from his left. He didn't have to turn to look, as he knew that his sisters felt his pain too. All of them were there when their own father, in exchange for more knowledge to satisfy his selfish desires, secretly informed the power hungry Emperor Sutoku of the Sutokun Dominion to the southeast of Haitsuuko of the province's lack of supervision. Apparently the owner of Haitsuuko, the sun goddess Amaterasu of the Golden Sun Empire to the southwest, was currently locked in a long war with the weirdly-named Parfait Commonwealth, headed by Shuten-doji. As a result, Haitsuuko was left all but defenseless, vulnerable to invasions from the Dominion. However, Sutoku was only interested in acquiring slaves, as Pipe Foxes were known internationally to be naturally submissive and obedient, not to mention weak-willed, making them the most sought after to be enslaved. Due to a deal between his father and Sutoku, his family was exempted from becoming slaves, though he never showed his face to them again.

It was completely understandable why the villagers hated them, their hatred growing each month with every raid.

"After all these years, I still haven't figure out why would Father do such a thing...," Ryusaki finally muttered, sniffing back tears.

His mother was silent for a moment. Finally, she spoke, squeezing his shoulder tightly. "Only your father knows the reason why he would put our family through this hell just to sate his curiosity. However, karma will repay him for his treason."

"Yes, but how long will it take, Mother? Are we destined to be fate's playthings, being trampled by cruel demons and uncaring spirits? Our race has been the servants and slaves for those stronger than us but are we too timid and weak to do something about it?"

His mother took her hand off his shoulder and placed it on his right hand. She leaned closer to him and Ryusaki can smell her cherry-scented perfume. He tried to avert his gaze but she took his chin and turned his head to face her. The both looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity before she finally spoke, "Ryusaki, I understand that you are still coming to grips with your father's actions but, sooner or later, you will have to learn to let go of the past and reach for the future. Otherwise, you'll become very bitter and unapproachable."

Ryusaki felt a hint of anger rise inside of him. "Do you suggest that I forgive him?" he asked, his tone almost a growl.

"If anything else besides anger, I want you to pity him, as he'd sacrificed everything that was precious to him for his own selfishness-."

"How can I pity the fool who sold out his own people to one of the most powerful demons in the Spirit World?!" Ryusaki growled, clenching his chopsticks so tight that they snapped in two. "Those Pipe Foxes in Hajimiya were once our friends, our neighbors, and now they hate us, all because of that son-of-a-bitch's selfish-"

"Enough!" his mother snapped, the sharp command causing him to jump. She then sighed deeply, clearly annoyed. "You will not use such strong language in my house, do I make myself clear?"

Ryusaki simply stared at her, unable to say anything.

"Do I?!" she repeated, putting more force into her voice.

"Yes Mother," Ryusaki muttered, looking at his food. Looking momentarily at his sisters' worried faces, he then turned back to his mother. Standing up, he bowed respectfully to her. "_Arigato_. Thank you for the delicious food, Mother, though I have had my fill."

With a sad smile, his mother nodded. "I'll see you tonight then, Ryusaki."

Bidding his sisters farewell, Ryusaki went back to his room and lightly shut the door. Laying out a small mat, Ryusaki sat cross-legged on it and closed his eyes. As he began to meditate, swirls of ethereal blue energies streamed around him and Ryusaki felt a deep sense of complete tranquility. Happier scenes from his childhood played inside his head like soothing flashbacks, reminding him of simpler times when everyday was a day of laughter and smiles. Using his senses, he can even experience the memories themselves, as if he was actually reliving them at that very moment. As a budding spiritualist, such an ability was of no surprise to him.

A loud knock on the door surprised him so much that he passed gas loudly, causing the energies to scatter in all directions, which scattered paper everywhere. Holding his rapidly beating heart, Ryusaki glared at the door and sighed. "Come in."

Ryonami entered his room, wearing her favorite ornamental comb. Her katana, which she named Kyonashi, lay inside a red and black sheath, its gold and black handle gleaming in the dim lamp lights. She was holding a stack of books in her arms, which she sat on top of a nearby dresser. "I'd finished reading the battle strategy books Father used to keep," she said as she turned to face him. "I've heard from Tamuya that you were also interested in the subject so I figured that you would like to read these books too."

With a smirk, Ryusaki glanced at the books Ryonami brought. "Thanks Ryonami-chan, though I suspect that they will only do for great reading material. Pipe Foxes aren't meant to be leaders, military or otherwise."

Ryonami scoffed and unsheathed Kyonashi. She then twirled the katana expertly between her fingers and hand before putting herself into a guard position. "Well, Pipe Foxes aren't meant to be blade dancers either, yet I am one of the dojo's top students, even beating out those mouthy Kotetsu siblings who'd said the same thing to me. Before his thirst for knowledge made him mad, Father once told me that, though others may put many labels on us, only we ultimately have the final say. I hope that someday you'd understand that, Ryusaki-chan."

Ryusaki grunted at this. "Well, you'll excuse me if I don't share your level of faith, Sister."

Ignoring that remark, Ryonami smiled at Ryusaki, causing the latter to raise an eyebrow. "Let's spar a little bit before you go to Mother tonight," she finally said, striking a pose.

With a grin, Ryusaki picked up his katana Kamikashi and stood up, strapping on the blue and gold-handle weapon. "Though I'm not as good at swordplay as you, Ryonami," he said at he unsheathed his weapon, marveling at the clean and reflective blade. "You've better keep your wits about you because I won't hold back!"

Ryonami gave her younger brother an evil sneer. "That's what you said the last time and you ended up as my servant for a week. Let's see if your brain is sharper than before...or duller."

"I can't wait until I wipe that smug grin off your face," Ryusaki grinned fiercely, pointing his katana at Ryonami. "It's time to make a crybaby out of you!"

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Two minutes later...

In the spacious, walled courtyard behind the house, Ryusaki and Ryonami continued to face off, their katanas held out at their sides, as a cool and late evening breeze softly caressed their faces and played with their hair. Lanterns provided sufficient light for the two sparring partners, yet left enough shade for a cunning opponent to utilize.

For what seemed like an eternity, both opponents stared at each other, not saying a word. Finally, Ryonami decided to break the ice, "Since it's nearly time for you to go to Mother, how about we do a onesey: first person to defeat his opponent one time is the winner."

"Do we still have to bet?" Ryusaki asked.

"Yes," Ryonami said, grinning evilly. "If I win, you must maintain the shrine for a week, plus you must dress up as a miko too!"

Ryusaki sticked out his tongue. "Well, if I win," he began, mentally going through the possibilities of what his sister would have to do for the entire week if she loses the spar. His eyes flashed when he picked one of them. "You must become my maid for an entire week... and you must also wear the uniform."

Ryonami pretended to be bored. "That's all you can think of?! Well, I believe that you would make a great shrine maiden, perhaps for an entire year."

"Not a chance!" Ryusaki said as he got into a combat stance. Ryonami did the same and the two began to circle each other, each looking for an opening. Unbeknownst to the two, Kimi, Tamuya, and their mother arrived, sitting on a long bamboo bench on the patio overlooking the courtyard as they watched the two Pipe Foxes face off.

Mischievous as ever, Kimi took out a slingshot and loaded a pebble into the leather sling. Making sure that her older sister and mother weren't looking, Kimi stretched back the elastic straps, aiming at Ryusaki. A few seconds later, she let go of the sling. The pebble whizzed pass Ryusaki's right ear and hit a tree behind him, distracting him. The moment he took his eyes off of Ryonami, he was unprepared for what happened next.

Seeing that his guard was down, Ryonami launched herself at him, unleashing a series of blows. Surprised by the sudden onslaught, Ryusaki barely managed to parry them all as he was pushed backward. Stumbling over a rock, Ryusaki barely dodged a thrust before swinging his weapon at Ryonami . However, Ryonami was ready, and Ryusaki found his blade gliding through empty air. Something appeared in Ryusaki's peripheral and he casually hopped backward just in time to dodge a dropkick from his right. The look of surprise in Ryonami's eyes was priceless.

With a wild grin, Ryusaki unleashed a rising kick which managed to clip her, putting Ryonami into a spin. As she landed on the ground with an *_Oomph_*, Ryusaki unleashed a diving slash at her. However, the more experienced Ryonami simply rotated her katana until the weapon laid across her back diagonally, stopping the blow. Not giving Ryusaki a chance to recover from his own shock, Ryonami kicktripped him and rolled into a squatting position, the point of her katana pointed at him and poised like a snake ready to strike.

"Wow, she's good," Tamuya whistled in appreciation. "I would hate to fight against her."

"That because Ryusaki sucks at fighting," Kimi teased, grinning at Ryusaki as he struggled back onto his feet. "All he's good at is thinking! Since when can thinking use a sword?"

"Just watch and learn," their mother simply said as she continued to watch her children spar. "You'll find out soon enough."

Getting into a guard stance, Ryusaki closed his eyes and focused, slowly breathing in and out as he memorized his surroundings. He remembered that there were some bamboo shoots near a few lanterns. As they had already hardened, getting a leg or tail caught between them would be troublesome indeed. If only the lanterns were taken out first, he could-

Ryusaki shuddered when he sensed an onrush of movement coming at him. Acting on reflex, he sidestepped the attack, hearing Ryonami gasp in surprise as she flew pass him. The thing about being a spiritualist was that one can easily detect ripples of movement through the thick energies that permeated the Spirit World like a massive and invisible flood on a global scale. That considered, a master spiritualist can detect an army hiding behind a huge mountain, provided that they are moving and that there are no loud noises in the vicinity to distract him. Also, the spiritualist can even perceive and manipulate emotions, as well as use the energies themselves both offensively and defensively. Most shamanic and priestly spirits in the Spirit World are spiritualists.

Wordlessly, Ryusaki ran for the bamboo shoots he envisioned, with Ryonami hot on his tail, so to speak. When he got to the bamboo shoots, he put all of his energy into his legs and dove over the shoots, hoping that he wouldn't fall short and impale himself onto the hardened plants. Sensing that his sister was almost to the bamboo, Ryusaki whirred around and unleashed a wave of blue energy that took out the nearby lanterns, plunging the immediate area into semi-darkness. He then used his tail to land safely on the other side of the shoots just as Ryonami crashed into them, crying out in alarm as she got trapped among the tight bundles. With a prideful grin, Ryusaki made his way over to where Ryonami was trapped, twirling his katana expertly as he zeroed in on her position using the disturbances she was causing to the surrounding energies.

As Ryusaki crept closer to his sister and raised his katana to strike, he noticed that she suddenly stopped moving. Sure there was a tiny bit of movement after that and some rustling but she then became still again, this time not moving at all.

"_Had she finally given up?" _he thought as he got closer to her last known location. He then became confused when he couldn't even detected the tiny ripples that her chest would cause as she breathe in and out. However, he was just beginning to debate whether she'd accidentally impaled herself onto the bamboo when he sensed a rapid movement moments before something hollow and heavy smacked him in the face.

Ryonami nearly burst in laughter when she witnessed Ryusaki fall into her trap. Truthfully, she was surprised when he'd led she into a trap, causing her arms and legs to be caught between the bamboo. She then frayed around helplessly until she remembered that Ryusaki can sense her movement even in near complete darkness and devised a plan. Noting that he'd unknowingly created a silhouette against the starry sky, Ryonami remained perfectly still, using her tail to pulled a bamboo shoot back and holding her breath. When he got close enough, she let the bamboo fly, watching it smash into his face with a sickening crush and knocking him to the ground.

As Ryusaki rolled on the ground, crying as tears intermingled with blood from his bleeding nose, Ryonami used her tail to free her katana wielding hand. She then slashed through the remaining bamboo, freeing herself completely. As Ryusaki struggled to composed himself, he found the point of a katana pressing against his chest and a horrible realization dawned on him.

"I win again," Ryonami said nonchalantly, wearing a smug grin that Ryusaki really wanted to slap off her face.

"You _cheated_!" Ryusaki growled, spitting a glob of blood to the side. "You used a freaking bamboo to knock me out, plus you knew that I can sense you!"

"Everything goes when sparring, Onii-chan," Ryonami simply said, shrugging. "If you were on a battlefield, you can't simply ask the enemy to play fair. No worries, though: you'll spend the next seven days tending to the shrine."

Ryusaki simply glared at her. "I swear on our ancestors that I will defeat you someday, you know that?!"

"I can't wait until that day comes!" Ryonami said sarcastically, feigning anticipation. "Watching you fail so often is getting sooo boring and disappointing!"

Before he could respond with a retort, light suddenly washed over them, causing them to shield their eyes, becoming surprised to see the rest of their family. Holding a lantern, his mother smiled knowingly as she helped him onto his feet. Closing her eyes, she pressed her hand to his nose and concentrated, wisps of energy coming from the palm. Soon, her removed her hand, revealing a completely healed nose.

"_Arigato_ Mother," he said, as he touched his nose. It was no longer hurting and even the blood was gone.

"No problem, Ryusaki," she said as she opened her eyes. "Of course, you did much better than the last few times during that spar. In fact, I'm starting to notice that you're using your head more often than your sword. While some may take that as a sign of weakness, never forget that it's your gift to use and to improve. Not everyone can swing a katana as well as others but not many can create such an effective tactic that involved trapping even Ryonami. Had she not knew that you can sense her movements in the dark, she would've been the one who would be defeated instead."

"Mother is right, Onii-chan," Ryonami added, placing a hand on his shoulder. Ryusaki tried his utmost to not push it away. "I was amazed that I couldn't land as many hits as I'd wanted on you. Your swordsmanship needs improving though but you are really capable of planning ahead. Why, you'll make a great tactician if you choose to. Perhaps someday you could even become one of Amaterasu's lords with your own estate and everything. All you need is a little more faith in yourself."

"Geez, thanks...," Ryusaki mumbled, not sure of what to believe.

"You still suck in fighting!" Kimi teased him, earning a slap in the back of the head from Tamuya. She turned to glare at her oldest sister. "Whyja do that?!"

"Keep it up Onii-chan and you'll make even Emperor Sutoku quake in fear," she said, smirking.

"Or rather I'll make him quake in fury," he said before turning to Kimi. "As for you, you little demon, I'll be sure to remember that comment when you ask to visit my estate."

"Pffft, whatever."

"With all that aside," his Mother continued, changing the subject. 'Come Ryusaki, it's time for your lessons. You three, prepare for bed. Oh yeah, I almost forgotten: Make sure that you give him the wig for the miko costume, Ryonami." To Ryusaki's horror, his mother winked at Ryonami.

"Of course, Mother," she responded, grinning evilly. "He got to look the part too, right?"

"_Mother_!" Ryusaki whined, feeling betrayed. "Why are you taking her side?"

His mother only chuckled. "What can I say: I'd always wanted you to be a girl so what the heck! You would look cute in the costume too."

With blue lines of dread covering his forehead, Ryusaki decided for his sake not to further indulge his mother's fantasies. He followed her inside the house without another word and then into her room. After flexing his tail, Ryusaki sat cross-legged across from his mother at a circular mat with strange runes arraigned in neat, concentric rows. Nearby, various artifact and tomes stood on the surfaces of several tables on mountings, their etched symbols giving off a soft glow in various colors. As a former spiritualism instructor, his mother was just as organized as before, having taught various spirits over the course of the centuries.

As Ryusaki's school was inside Hajimiya, she'd took it upon herself to home school him.

"Had you ever had a dream in which someone was speaking to you?" she asked, looking on with interest.

"No, just the usual stuff," he admitted.

"Well, it's okay for now" she continued. However, she then became serious. "However, when such a phenomenon does occur, pay close attention to what is being said. Often time, your fate and destiny is revealed and it's ultimately your choice to accept it or not. Of course, if you choose to deny it, there's a chance that things that you were destined to stop could come to a head if left unchecked and the entire Spirit World and even the Physical World would be in peril. Basically, the more you resist your fate, the more people would suffer."

"Mother, who are the people who will be speaking to me?" Ryusaki asked.

"When a spiritualist spirit reaches a heightened state of awareness called nirvana," his mother explained, leaning closer to him. "He will dissolved into a metaphysical state and merge with the very energies he can sense, carrying all his knowledge with him for future spiritualists to tap into when the time comes. Now able to at least get a gist of future event to come, he will inform his descendants for what they need to prepare for and what they need to do. Basically, it will be an ancestor who will speak with you. Any questions?"

When Ryusaki shook his head, his mother continue, interlocking her fingers. "Well, with that settle, let's begin the lesson..."

"""""""""""""""""""

Three hours later...

Family shrine.

Ryusaki was grudgingly thankful that his family was now isolated from Hajimiya. Other than the occasional group of troublemakers who'd wanted to 'punish the traitors', no one else came to visit them. This meant that no one was around to know how humiliated Ryusaki felt or to see how ridiculous he looked.

Sweeping around the large shrine with a straw broom was bad enough, as Ryusaki was allergic to dust mites spirits but having to do it while dressing up as a shrine maiden for a week was insufferable. As Ryusaki continued to sweep away the dust, the moonlight reflected off the shrine's silver roof, casting a soothing light over the scene.

A breeze washed over Ryusaki and he stopped to savor the cool air. He loved the cool, night air and, surprisingly, the costume was helping him a lot. The loose garments actually _trapped_ the breeze, allowing it to wash over his arms and legs and throughout every fiber of his being. He felt as if he was wrapped inside a cloud that caressed him as much as it made him beautiful. Oh, does it feel so comfortable and so airy! It would be even better if he was a girl...

Ryusaki blinked in terror when he realized what he'd just thought. With a growl, he dropped the straw broom and grabbed his hair with both hands, yanking hard on the handfuls as he growled in emotional agony.

"Oh ancestors!" he whined in frustration, tears forming in his eyes. "Is it me or am I really enjoying this more than I should?!"


	2. Chapter 1: A Fox's Painful Journey

**Disclaimer: I own none of the works belonging to Zynga, the maker of Ayakashi: Ghost Guild, neither do I own any of the characters nor places inside said game, save for those imagined and created by me.**

**Chapter 1: A Fox's Painful Journey**

The next morning...

"Hey Onii-sama, who are the Tsukomogami that Ryonami always speak of?" Kimi asked Ryusaki after they ate breakfast. Both Tamuya and Ryonami were at school, the former attending a dancing academy while the latter was at sword dancing school. Ryusaki, on the other hand, was tending to the family garden.

"Well," he stopped as he wiped a brow with a forearm. "Tsukomogami are the spirits of human weapons and objects who are awakened when either they've been abandoned for a century or when they harbor enough love or hatred for their owners."

"So the Tsukomogami comes from the Physical World?"

"Yes, though I heard from Ryonami that they call themselves 'Anima'. She also said that, since they spend most of their time with humans, they are more accustomed to warfare. This is why most of them are quick-tempered and always itching for a fight."

"Yes, though I bet that they can't defeat the Divina!" she said as she helped him apply fertilizer to the crops.

"That may be true in some cases, depending on who they pick a fight with...," Ryusaki knew that the Divina would pose a serious challenge to the Anima. The Divina are unique in which they are fewer in numbers compared to the Anima and the Phantoms, which his race belonged. However, in addition to minor heavenly beings, the Divina consisted of unique heroes and deities who are as powerful as they are cunning. Even a handful of them can turn the tide of battle in their favor.

Kimi worked on the moist soil with a trowel. "Well, if I ever meet an Anima in person, I hope that he would make a nice protector." Kimi drooled dreamily as she began to fantasize the encounter. "He would slice through bad guys and monsters with his sword and carry me in his arms to a huge mansion on top of a hill covered with flowers of all colors and-HEY!"

Kimi yelped when Ryusaki threw a bucket of water into her face, drenching her kimono. "And it will rain and both of you will get wet," he finished.

Kimi whined angrily as she wiped water off her face. "You _baka_! I'm telling Mother on you! She'll extend your week of cosplaying as a shrine maiden to two-!"

Kimi's yells of anger suddenly became muffles of panic when Ryusaki simply stuffed the wooden bucket over her head, wedging it around her skull. As Kimi squealed in panic, Ryusaki pretended to struggle as he grasped the rim of the bucket, yelling out to his mother, "Mother, come quick! Kimi accidentally tripped and wedged her head into the bucket!"

Growled in anger, Kimi attempted to claw his face, only for the latter to whack the side of her head with his tail, causing her to fall onto her back. With muffled screeches of fury, Kimi frayed her limbs and tail everywhere, throwing a tantrum that threatened to ruin a large portion of the garden.

"Easy, Kimi-chan!" Ryusaki said in a mock pleading voice as he tried to help his sister up while avoiding her fingernails.

"Kimi, calm down!" their mother shouted as she ran to her youngest daughter's aid. Kimi relaxed as their mother helped her onto her feet. With a yank, she ripped the bucket free and Kimi gasped for a breath of air before glaring at Ryusaki.

Ryusaki shrugged. "You should've been more careful, Kimi-chan," he warned her, wagging a finger. "Running through a garden is a bad idea."

"I wasn't running, you idiot!" she yelled. "You dumped water on me and stuffed the bucket over my head!"

Ryusaki shook his head in mock pity, smiling inwardly. "Now why would I stuff a bucket over your head? You would've suffocated to death if I did!"

"The bucket has _grooves_ for air to enter, you dumbass!"

"Kimi, enough!" their mother snapped, her expression strained with annoyance. "What did I tell you about foul language?!"

"Now, what a filthy mouth you have!" Ryusaki said, deciding to poke the bear further. Unfortunately, he went too far and Kimi did one thing he'd never anticipated: she kicked him in the testicles.

"_GYAAH!" _Ryusaki screeched in falsetto as he held himself, collapsing to the ground and sobbing miserably. He felt warm liquid washed over his legs as he wet himself. "I want... _*sob* _my mommy..."

"KIMI, WHY YOU DO THAT?!" their mother yelled in fury.

"He's lying!" Kimi pleaded, tears forming in her eyes. "You... you don't actually believe him, do you?"

"It doesn't matter who I believe, Kimi, only that what you did was inappropriate!" Their mother stood over Kimi and folding her arms. Finally, she muttered. "You are grounded for the next four days. No playing outside or desserts. The only thing you'll be allowed to do is practicing on your needlework. Do I make myself clear?"

"Mama, please...," Kimi was only the verge of crying.

"Do I make myself clear?" their mother repeated.

Kimi turned toward Ryusaki, wearing an expression of tearful fury. "I HATE YOU!" she screeched. "I WISH THAT YOU GO SOMEPLACE FAR, FAR AWAY BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" With a squeal, Kimi ran back to her house.

Turning to Ryusaki, their mother noticed the puddle underneath him. "Clean yourself up and load up a cart with the merchandise," she finally said, feeling weary. "It's almost time to go to town." Without another word, their mother turned and went back to the house.

Feeling withdrawn, Ryusaki struggled onto his knees and hung his head shamefully, Kimi's words of hatred replaying in his head. He'd never thought that a playful jest would lead to this. As he stood there, he began to wonder whether she'd really meant what she'd said to him. Though many would dismiss it as childish pattering made by a little girl who doesn't fully understand what she had just said, Ryusaki and Kimi were just as tight-knitted as the rest of the family. This meant that he was genuinely hurt by her words.

As Ryusaki painfully rose to his feet, he silently vowed to make it up to her tonight. He even planned to admit to his mother the mistake he'd made, even if it meant a fierce slap in the face and fifty-one more weeks as a shrine maiden.

First of course, he have to earn today's earnings as a street peddler.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The village of Hajimiya

Fifty-three minutes later...

"Trinkets! Charms! Dumplings! Get them while they're here!"

All around him, the other Pipe Foxes were attending to their business, chatting with each other noisily as their children played in the streets. As his family was unwelcome in Hajimiya, they often had to masquerade as different people when they do have to come here, wearing masks or heavy makeup to hide their identities from those who once knew them. Ryonami and Tamuya were particularly good at doing just that. However, as Ryusaki was alone this time, he have to rely on his average acting skills and luck to last out here without being discovered and then subsequently mauled by an angry mob.

For this occasion, he wore of all things his miko cosplay and the black wig he wore last night. To complete the deception, he wore white face paint and red lipstick, as well as a small bundle of pillows underneath his white kimono to give the appearance of breasts. As a result, he looked like a genuine shrine maiden to all but the most scrutinizing of people. However, he was carrying his katana underneath his clothing just in case things got awry.

It was ironic that the very clothing he hated to wear yesterday turned out to be the very thing that was keeping him from being discovered today.

"Teas, trinkets and dumplings, get them while they're here!" he yelled again in a falsetto and airy voice as he pushed the cart down the street. "I've got charms too! Your ancestors want you to buy some of my wares! Can't you hear them beckoning you to me?"

"We'll buy a couple trinkets and some dumplings too, miss!" a familiar voice stopped him. Slowly turning around, Ryusaki's heart skipped a beat when he saw a group of Pipe Foxes looking at him, some of them blushing heavily. Numbering about five Pipe Foxes, they were led by a familiar face, a face that often grinned evilly as he and his gang bullied Ryusaki long before the isolation of his family. He was none other that Takemura Kenshi, a Pipe Fox who was as evil as he was tall. His long black hair waved in the morning breeze.

"You look very lovely this morning, little miko," Kenshi purred as he placed a hand on Ryusaki's cart and leaned closer to Ryusaki. "Did the head priestess sent you here to make some silver? A monastery of shrine maidens doesn't feed itself, after all."

Muttering a curse under his breath, Ryusaki gave Kenshi his best smile. "In that case," he said, trying to keep his voice from breaking. Up close, Kenshi was intimidating indeed. "You would do us a great service, Pipe-Fox-who-I-don't-actually-know-despite-the familiarity-san."

Kenshi grinned. "Your accent are familiar, Miko-chan. The nearest Pipe Fox miko are about thirty miles north of here and their accent is different."

"I was born here and lived here for a few years before moving up north," Ryusaki lied, hoping that Kenshi would buy it.

"Fair enough, sweetheart," Leaning back, Kenshi looked over his shoulder at his gang. "Who wants to keep the miko from starving to death?"

Unanimously, all of them wanted to show their support.

"Okay guys, please form a line," Ryusaki said as he closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side, chuckling lightly just as his sisters often do. Needless to say, the now infatuated Pipe Foxes quickly lined up as he took their orders. Though he was smiling on the outside, he was inwardly cursing his luck, wondering how the hell he could be so good at masquerading as a shrine maiden.

After Ryusaki pocketed the last Pipe Fox's silver pieces, Kenshi leaned on Ryusaki's cart, threatening to tip it over. When Kenshi leaned closer with a purpose, Ryusaki became tensed and he backed away slightly. "W-what are you doing?" he asked Kenshi.

Wordlessly, Kenshi grinned as he tossed a few silver coins onto the cart. "How about me and you go to a quiet place and... you know... get to know each other better." His gang whistled quietly among themselves, urging him onward.

Ryusaki's mouth dropped open when he got Kenshi's meaning. "You had got to be kidding me..."

"C'mon, I know that you miko often wander from place to place, offering benedictions... and other services," Kenshi continued with a lewd tone. "Quite frankly I am looking for a little... blessing myself."

Ryusaki simply glared at him. "I am not that kind of miko! Do you want me to bring down a curse upon you and your family?"

"Careful Kenshi," one of his crew warned him. "She could be Hashihime herself in disguise."

"Or even Amaterasu herself," another suggested. "You know that these Divina deities can disguise themselves as regular spirits, right?"

Shaking his head at his gang, Kenshi grinned at Ryusaki. "Friends, huh? They care about you so much that they get paranoid about your health, even if it's illogical. Tell me, Miko-chan, do you have any friends other than your shrine sisters?" Ryusaki shook his head.

"Well, I'll tell you what," Sighing, Kenshi added two more silver coins to the pile. "However about you kiss me on the cheek instead? Some Pipe Foxes believe that getting kissed by a miko brings good luck and I need all the good luck I can get."

Ryusaki moaned softly in despair. He'd rather die permanently than to kiss Kenshi's cheek. However, it looked as if he won't take no for an answer so he finally relented. _"I hate my life,"_ he thought as he puckered up.

_*Smooch*_

Kenshi drew back and blushed heavily, a red lipstick kiss on his right cheek. "You kiss like a princess, Miko-chan. Good thing I'd asked for that!"

"_Accursed ancestors, why torment me in such a way?!"_ Ryusaki felt like unsheathing his katana and decapitating Kenshi right then and there.

"C'mon guys, let's get out of here," Kenshi finally said as he turned to leave. "Let's go trash that traitor Ryusaki's place tonight." His gang cheered in response as they enjoyed their purchases.

"_Not a chance, jerk,"_ Ryusaki thought as he continued to peddle his goods. He was about to spit in Kenshi's direction when the village's bells suddenly rang continuously. Suddenly, screams of alarm and fright rang out as every Pipe Fox in the vicinity ran for the nearest building, holing themselves up inside. Tensed, Kenshi and his gang unsheathed their katanas and ran behind a building. Ryusaki became very afraid as he recalled hearing the bells ring like this many times over the course of the past two years. They warned of an incoming raid.

Immediately, Ryusaki wheeled the heavy cart around and pushed it down the street, an escape plan already in his mind. In the distance, a steady noise like the galloping of many hooves were getting closer by the minute. However, Ryusaki knew that he wouldn't be able to escape the village in time if he continued to push the cart. Parking it in front of a spice store, Ryusaki quickly unfastened the sack containing the silver coins and tucked it into his kimono. He then one last look at the cart, which held so many of his family's handmade goods and foodstuff, before leaving it all behind. Though he knew that his family cared more about him than their merchandise, Ryusaki felt a tinge of shame at leaving it behind to looters.

Running for a few minutes, Ryusaki haven't made it to the main road leading out of the village when three malignant spirits mounted on spirit steeds appeared from behind a building, blocking his path. The three spirits were clearly beautiful females with pointing ears, red hair with twin conical ponytails, and small black wings. They wore purple, seductive clothing that caused him to blush heavily. He read about these spirits but he'd never imagined that he would meet them face to face.

"Why hello there, sweetie!" one of the Succubi called out to him, wielding a long, black-bladed sword. "Come have a chat with us. We won't bite, we promise."

"Screw this!" Ryusaki growled as he took a side road. Behind him, the three Succubi galloped after him, giggling as they gave chase.

"Don't run away, darling!" the same Succubus giggled as she urged her spirit steed to go faster. "You would do just fine entertaining the emperor!"

"Leave me alone!" Ryusaki yelled as he ducked into another side road, narrowing escaping a grab from the nearest Succubus. The sudden disappearance of her prey caused the Succubus to stop her steed suddenly, causing her sisters to run into her from behind. Clearly annoyed, the lead Succubus walked her steed up to her offending sister and gave her a fierce backhand, causing her to cry.

"Dammit, Viola!" she barked in frustration. "How many times do I have to tell you, _'Don't stop so suddenly when we're very close to you.' _?!"

"Ow, you shouldn't be tailing me so closely anyway!" Viola wept, recoiling when it looked as if her sister would slap her again.

The lead Succubus only gave an exasperated sigh. "Let's go find the bloody Pipe Fox miko already! Lady Suzuka will punish us again if she catches us slacking off!"

After maneuvering their steeds, the three Succubi raced down the side road where they'd seen the Pipe Fox ran. As they passed by a trash receptacle, the lid was moved off the opening and Ryusaki peeked outside, making sure the coast was clear. He then gingerly crawled out of the container and ran down a small street as the sounds of doors being kicked down and screams filled the air.

Unfortunately, Ryusaki never realized that he was actually heading back to the village square until it was too late. All around him, the Succubi raiders were dragging helpless Pipe Foxes out of their homes and into the square as a few of them were engaged in battle with those who resisted. Ghostly streamers rose from the bodies of both sides' fallen comrades, indicating that the process of respawning at their most cherished places was commencing. However, as the inexperienced Pipe Foxes were no match for one of the best warriors the Sutokun Dominion has to offer, they were steadily cut down until the surviving Pipe Foxes dropped their weapons and surrendered.

Suddenly, something smashed into the back of his head, threatening to knock him out cold. However, the assault only caused Ryusaki's survival instincts to kick in and the Succubus who'd hit him with a wooden mallet was surprised when a spinning kick sent her into the side of a building, knocking her out cold. Realizing that he was no longer safe where he currently was, Ryusaki made sure that no one was looking in his direction before running off to his left. He have just gone off for about eight meters when he heard a shout from his right that caused him to glance toward the source. Four Succubi who were directing the other Pipe Foxes to the village square noticed him and flew toward him, their small wings surprisingly able to carry their weight through the air. Though he dodged one of the Succubi, another got him, tackling him to the ground. Rolling onto his back, Ryusaki freed one of his arms and landed a punch into the Succubus' face, knocking her off of him. He barely got up when two Succubi grabbed his arms and yanked him to his feet.

The Succubus he punched was completely pissed. "You'll pay for violating my beautiful face, bitch!" she growled, slamming a fist into Ryusaki's gut, causing him to cough loudly and bowl over, sobbing in pain.

"She sounded like a boy when you punched her," one of the Succubi holding him up remarked.

"Who cares? Let's take her to the square already!" With a vindictive slap in Ryusaki's face, she led the group to the village square. When he reached the square, Ryusaki was dumped unceremoniously next to a bruised Kenshi and what was left of his gang. When Kenshi saw him, he became worried. "Are you alright, Miko-chan?!" he asked amid the crying and whimpering of the other Pipe Foxes.

"Never better," Ryusaki said sarcastically. Due to his predicament, Ryusaki decided not to mask his voice. He was doomed one way or another.

Kenshi became confused, as well as a bit suspicious. "What's wrong with your voice? You sound like someone I used to know."

Ryusaki quickly corrected himself. "My voice is hoarse from all the screaming."

Before Kenshi could say more, the Pipe Foxes and Succubi suddenly became hushed when they saw someone who was walking toward the square with a purpose. Wearing a purple outfit with bellflowers adorning her blouse and hair, the female spirit has pale skin and long, light lavender hair, as well as a psychotic sneer. In her right hand was a fearsome katana with a golden sheath. Two long horns spouted from her head.

"It's Lady Suzuka," Ryusaki heard one of the Succubi breath in awe and fear. Understandably, the Succubi quickly parted as Suzuka walked toward the Pipe Fox captives. Beside him, Kenshi tsked in both anger and barely contained fear. Though Ryusaki have never met Lady Suzuka before, he knew that if even the Succubi feared her, then she must be formidable indeed.

As fitting of one the Emperor Sutoku's greatest generals.

"Today is your unlucky day, Pipe Foxes!" Suzuka announced, her eyes trailing over the frightened faces before her. "Today, you shall learn what it feels like to be far away from this little nest you call a village. Today, you shall learn what it feels like to submit to your betters, to kiss the toes and lick the soles of those who own you, body and substance. It is your nature to always be the tail and never to be the head, after all."

"Insufferable bitch!" Kenshi growled tensely.

Suddenly, two nearby Succubi grabbed Kenshi and yanked him to his feet, rewarding his struggles with a knee to the gut. Ryusaki felt the surrounding temperature drop steeply when Lady Suzuka stared in Kenshi's direction.

"This insubordinate Pipe Fox dared insult you, my lady!" one of the Succubi said, yanking Kenshi's hair. Her eyes full of malice, Suzuka walked closer to the trio until she was a meter from Kenshi. She then turned to the Succubus who'd spoken and asked, "Exactly what did he say?"

The Succubus became frightened, fearful that her liege would slay her if she believed that she was insulting her herself. "Erm... he called you... er... 'an insufferable bitch', my lady."

Suzuka grinned fiercely as she looked into the Succubus' eyes, causing the latter to shrink back. "Did he?"

"That's right and I'm not afraid to say it again!" Kenshi yelled.

"My, my, what a mouthy Pipe Fox," Suzuka mused as she circled Kenshi, taking in every detail. "Sutoku told me that all Pipe Foxes are well-mannered and submissive but it seems that he is wrong. That's okay, though: if I can't break you, _she_ will. Have you heard of Sakura Sumizome?"

"Does it matter?"

"Oh, I love this one!" Suzuka laughed, looking around. Suddenly, her expression became dangerous and, before Kenshi would respond, Suzuka hit him with a rising kick, knocking him onto his back. As Kenshi tried to get up, Suzuka pinned him down with a foot, hovering the tip of her katana over his throat.

"I can be a nice demon princess or I can be the worst you ever met," she said in a low tone, anger hovering just beneath the surface. "If I was you, I would learn to control that mouth of yours. Unlike me, Emperor Sutoku is less lenient and even less merciful."

At first Kenshi looked as if he wanted to say another insult. However, he thought better of it and remained silent.

"Good boy!" Suzuka congratulated, receiving a few chuckles from her Succubi. Satisfied, Suzuka took her foot off his chest and turned toward the rest of the Pipe Foxes. "Let this be a lesson for all those who still want to resist. Resistance will not be tolerated and will be dealt with via flogging at best and execution at worst. I hope you've already bid your families farewell because some of you are coming with-."

Lady Suzuka suddenly paused when she saw Ryusaki. Realizing that he was now the center of her attention, Ryusaki whimpered in fear as Suzuka walked to him, an evil smile on her face. "Well, I'd never thought that I would encounter a Pipe Fox who's also a shrine maiden," she said, pulling Ryusaki to his feet by his kimono. Ryusaki marveled at her sheer strength; she'd managed to pick him up so easily with just one hand! Even Tamuya have a harder time using both her hands to do so.

"Let me go, please!" Ryusaki pleaded in falsetto, hoping that she would buy it. Raising an eyebrow, Suzuka stared at him for a few minutes before reaching into his kimono and ripping the bundle of pillows free, much to his embarrassment. The other Pipe Foxes gasped in shock and surprise. Now sitting in an upright position, Kenshi's eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets. Even the Succubi were giving Ryusaki blank looks.

"My, what a surprise! " Suzuka mused, licking her lips as she pulled Ryusaki closer to her, towering over him. "Either you're a girl who needs to _grow_ a little more or... you're a boy in disguise." To Ryusaki's horror, Suzuka ripped off his wig, unraveling his disguise before the villagers of Hajimiya.

"Could've fooled me, even without the disguise. It's hard to tell you male Pipe Foxes from the females, anyway," Suzuka continued, added insult to injury. The Succubi chuckled in derision.

Kenshi's face became red with fury and disgust when he realized that he'd been fooled by the very Pipe Fox he'd named a traitor. The memory of the kiss he'd received not too long ago made him more furious and, for the first time in his life, he really wanted to kill Ryusaki with his bare hands. "RYUSAKI!" he growled in fury. "Just wait until I get my hands on you! I'll-!"

"'Ryusaki' is your name, eh?" Suzuka asked Ryusaki, pursing her lips. "Come to think of it, the name does ring a bell. Valentina, bring me the notice!"

A Succubus holding a scroll quickly handed the parchment to Suzuka and back away as the general opened it. Clearing her throat, Suzuka then began to read: _'By the order of Emperor Sutoku and at my behest, I Hashimura Yoshima do allow my son Hashimura Ryusaki to be taken to Shuten-doji to become her personal spiritualist-' _"

"W-wait a minute!" Ryusaki interrupted, unable to believe what he'd just heard. " This is a trick! My father would never allow me or anyone else in my family to be enslaved! He and Sutoku made a deal!"

Sneering, Suzuka turned the notice around and showed it to him. "Is this your father's handwriting, little fox? Is that his signature at the bottom? Face it sweetie, your own father sold you out! You are now ours for the taking!"

"No, I refuse to believe you!" Ryusaki yelled as he reached underneath his clothing. Tears began to stream from his eyes at the sight of his father's further betrayal. "I'd rather die than to submit to you monsters!" With a roar, Ryusaki unsheathed his katana and launched himself at Suzuka.

Though momentarily surprised, Suzuka was an experienced fighter and Ryusaki's eyes widened in surprise when he found himself slashing through empty air. Milliseconds later, two long horns wedged themselves around his neck and Ryusaki found himself being flung through the air before landing face first into the hard cobblestone side of a building with a sickening smack, collapsing limply to the ground.

Before Ryusaki blacked out completely, he swore that he could see his mother's horrified face among the villagers' expressions of hatred, revenge already on their minds.

''''''''''''''''''

Military encampment outside Hajimiya

Fifteen minutes later...

Inside her personal tent, Suzuka was looking over a map with her Succubi lieutenants, discussing plans with them. Outside the tent, the Succubi warriors were doing combat drills with Naginata and Beretta Anima, each wearing the purple uniforms of Suzuka's army.

"When we travel southward to the Parfait Commonwealth," Suzuka was saying as she traced a finger over the map. "We must stay behind the western border of the Dominion. Otherwise, we'll accidentally cross the Golden Sun Empire's eastern borders and would be too far away from any friendly fortresses to resupply and recover from any losses we might incur. We would suffer attrition that will be hard to recover from at the hands of one or more of Amaterasu's generals, particular Princess Konohanasakuya, as a result. That's why I want you to make sure that your warriors are keeping their eyes on the slaves. The last thing we want is for them to either escape when we're attacked or to aid the enemy. I will hold you all responsible for any neglect so, for your sake, keep your soldiers vigilant, do I make myself clear?"

The Succubi nodded furiously, aware of the unfortunate fate that awaited those who fail her.

"Good," Suzuka said with finality as she looked at each face before her. "Now, lets break camp and get the slaves ready. We'll march for the Commonwealth within the hour."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''

Unknown place and time...

_When Ryusaki opened his eyes, he found himself adrift in a mass of slowing flowing blue energy. Shapes that resembled foxes with serpentine bodies frolicked around him, playing with each other. Blinking in confusion, he watched as the foxes turned toward him, tilting their heads as they regarded him. Suddenly, they coalesced into a single entity that climbed up him and sat on one of his shoulders. _

"_What is going on here?" he wondered as the fox continued to stare at him._

"_You are having a dream, a vision of your fate," a disembodied voice responded Ryusaki couldn't tell whether the speaker was male or female._

_Ryusaki frantically looked around for the source of the voice but couldn't find it. "Who are you and where are you?" he asked._

"_Look to your right," the voice simply said._

_Ryusaki looked at the fox, noticing that it was staring at him with intent. "It's good to meet you, Ryusaki," the fox seemed to say, its mouth unmoving._

"_Auugh!" Ryusaki yelped and he jerked his shoulder involuntarily. The fox gave a yelp as it was flung away, managing to right itself as it floated next to him._

"_My, had I known that you would do that," the fox muttered irritably as it shook itself. "I would've simply hover nearby."_

'_Wh-who are you?!" Ryusaki asked incredulously, not sure whether he should be wary or confused._

_The fox cleared its throat before continuing. "I am merely a Pipe Fox who'd achieved nirvana so long ago. I am one of your ancestors who watches over your household, Ryusaki, and I've come to teach you of your destiny, if you are willing to accept it."_

"_How do I know that you're not some illusion, some kind of trick concocted by Lady Suzuka to keep me calm and submissive?" Ryusaki asked, challenging the fox._

_The fox seemed to smirk or was Ryusaki imagining things? "Would Suzuka know that you'd just gotten your baby sister Kimi into trouble today over something that was your fault only? Does she knows that, four years ago, Kenshi and his friends hid your clothes while you was bathing inside the village's public bathhouse and you had to run back home naked, with only a doll with Amaterasu's likeness to cover yourself?"_

_Ryusaki blushed in embarrassment. "Okay, okay, you got me!" he whined, waving his arms. With a sigh, he calmed down. "So, what do you want to tell me?"_

_The fox moved in front of Ryusaki and began to speak. "You have been chosen by us to make this world a better place not only for Pipe Foxes but for others who are likewise oppressed. You will rise as a champion and hero to the oppressed and as an enemy and anathema to those who would use their power to crush those beneath them. You will rise in power and might but beware: pride will corrupt you and land you into needless trouble-."_

_"I don't understand," Ryusaki interrupted the fox. "How can I possibly do all these things? I'm just a Pipe Fox who peddles trinkets and food for his family! I can't even defeat my sister in a spar, much less Suzuka or anyone like her in a real fight!"_

_"Take heart, Ryusaki, for you will not walk this perilous road alone. You will have loyal friends and soldiers who will do all they can to aid you, even at the cost of their lives. The battles you will fight and the suffering you all will endure will prepare you for the coming threat ahead."_

_"What are you talking about? What kind of threat will I face?"_

_"We sense a coming foe who was once ostracized but is now hungry for power. She is as dangerous as she is scheming. She will turn disposed sister against reigning sister, manipulating her actions and thoughts with the soothing and at the urging of her tongue. She will lead a massive uprising that will topple a mighty empire and will set valiant sister against valiant brother. After this task is completed, she will threaten not only the Spirit World but the Physical World, as well. Only you can save both the spirits and the humans from this ambitious enemy."_

_"Who are this person?" Ryusaki asked, his mind already in overdrive. "How can I stop her?"_

_The fox simply shook its head. "We can only read and sample the waves of coming change, Ryusaki," it finally said. "We cannot know who exactly will cause the ripples or what long-term effects they will ultimately have. You see, our gift of prediction works mostly in the abstract. As for how to stop her, the answer will be revealed to you in time." _

_Ryusaki felt scared and overwhelmed. He wasn't sure that he would be able to become the hero the fox said he was, never mind a great leader. He grew up believing that his people existed only to live under the rule and influence of those greater than themselves. He believed that Pipe Foxes are only capable of ruling their households and villages, definitely not an army of strangers who may not even respect him because of that fact. Perhaps Lady Suzuka was right: Pipe Foxes are never meant to be greater than themselves._

_"However, there is the most important thing that you must do, Ryusaki," the fox continued._

_Ryusaki jerked himself out of his thoughts and looked at the fox with renewed interest. "What is it?"_

_"You must believe in yourself, Ryusaki," the fox simply said as it began to fade away. "Respect yourself for who you are and what you are capable of doing because no one else will do it for you."_

_Frightened, Ryusaki reached for the fox, only for his fingers to breeze through its body as if it wasn't there. "Wait, don't leave me!" he shouted frantically. "I need someone to help me get stronger!"_

_"Your friends will help you to the best of their abilities," the fox said, smiling. "However, only you can exercise your self-confidence."_

_"No, don't go! Please, stay by my side! I don't want to be alone!"_

_"Believe in yourself, for that is you greatest weapon," the fox said before fading away completely. _

_As his world became blurry, Ryusaki curled up into a fetal position, thinking about his fate and most importantly, that of his family. He felt bad for what trouble he'd caused Kimi and, now that he was separated from her, he felt even more worthless. As the blurry faces of Kimi, Ryonami, Tamuya, and his mother passed by him, Ryusaki groped for them, knowing in the back of his mind that he won't see them again for a long, long time, if even at all. As tears fell down his face, Ryusaki closed his eyes and wept, questioning why fate would be so cruel as to pull him away from his family without even giving him a chance to say goodbye. As Ryusaki began to cry himself to sleep, he suddenly became keenly aware that someone was slapping him really hard in the face._

_''''''''''''''''''''''''_

_*SLAP!* *SLAP!* *SLAP!* _

"Wakey wakey, little girlie-boy!" a young and seductive voice giggled.

Opening his eyes, Ryusaki found a Succubus straddling him, a look of mischief on her face. As the Succubus lowered her face closer to his, Ryusaki blushed when she dragged her tongue across his left cheek. Ryusaki suddenly felt a bit weak as a small amount of his life force was sucked out of him.

"I would do much, much more than that if we were alone together and if we had enough time," she cooed, sitting straight up. "However, I would have to settle for a lick. Now, let's get moving!"

As the Succubus got off him, she yanked him to his feet and bound his hands and feet with manacles and fetters, respectively. Giving him a big slap on the rear, the Succubus giggled at his resulting yelp and pushed him outside the tent. When he reached a growing slave train, he was chained to the main chain in front of an angry Kenshi, who spat on the ground, narrowly missing his feet.

"You have hell to pay now, traitor!" Kenshi growled, his hot breath washing over Ryusaki's neck. "Karma's that type of bitch!"

"Just shut up already...," Ryusaki muttered, causing Kenshi to grunt loudly.

"We'll see whether you still say that when we both are alone!"

"Okay!" the Succubus slave driver shouted from the rear of the train of captives. "The slave train's complete! Let's move out!"

As the slave train moved forward, Ryusaki tried to keep in step with Pipe Foxes in front of him, as he didn't want to be anywhere near Kenshi. However, the taller Pipe Fox knew what he was doing and tried to keep up with him. For about six hours, the trains of Pipe Fox slaves continued to move haggardly through a flowery grassland, with Suzuka's army forming a protective envelope around them. Next to the slave trains themselves rode Beretta Anima and Succubi armed with breech-loading rifles, tasked with keeping the slaves in line, as well as shooting down any who try to escape. Looking around, Ryusaki saw a pair of figures on top of a hill on the left side of the army. Recognizing them as Pillow Phantoms, Ryusaki couldn't help but to smile as they stared at the army with sleepy interest, their large pillows held tightly to their chests and their colorful pajamas making them stand out from the surrounding scene. However, the brief but peaceful moment ended when a few Succubi broke off from the main army and chased them away. With a sad sigh, Ryusaki looked forward and continued to walk.

Behind him, Kenshi muttered to himself, "Stupid Succubi chasing everything they see."

As long uneventful days went by, the army met a large Succubi raiding party who brought with them Wind Weasels and Snow Sprites captured from a nearby village. The two groups combined forces and the Pipe Foxes found themselves marching alongside two different races of spirits. Looking at the frightened Snow Sprites, Ryusaki turned and looked at the Wind Weasels, who were badly beaten yet were still carrying an indomitable desire to be free. Unlike the calm and submissive Pipe Foxes, the Wind Weasels are a tenacious people, always itching for a fight and adamant at resisting anyone who wanted to rule over them with an iron fist. Over the course of history, Wind Weasels had been known to resist the intrusions of both the Sutokun Dominion and the Golden Sun Empire, only submitting to foreign rulers who treated them right. The fact that these Wind Weasels were captured in the first place meant that these Succubi are tougher than they looked.

"_If only my people were like these Wind Weasels," _Ryusaki thought. _"We could even have our own nation."_

As Ryusaki continued to walk, Kenshi looked down and saw a large stone that Ryusaki just passed. An idea appeared in his head and Kenshi waited until he got close enough to the stone. Digging a foot under the stone, he flinged it at Ryusaki, hitting him in the back of a knee. The shorter Pipe Fox yelped as he stumbled, falling to the ground and dragging Kenshi down with him.

"Hey, don't fall asleep on me, traitor!" Kenshi shouted loud enough for everyone in the immediate vicinity to hear.

"Stop!" the slave driver shouted. Whistling to the nearest mounted Succubi and Beretta Anima, she gestured to them before trotting her steed to the trouble spot as the slave train is brought to a stop. The spirits the slave driver gestured to leveled their guns at the Pipe Foxes, daring any of them to make a run for freedom.

"What in the ancestors' names is going on here?!" the Succubus demanded, her eyes shifting between Kenshi and Ryusaki.

"This jerk you put in front of me fell asleep and pulled me down!" Kenshi said, feigning annoyance as he tilted his chin toward Ryusaki.

The Succubus glared at Ryusaki, a hand on the hilt of a whip she carried. "Is this true?!"

"He's lying, ma'am!" Ryusaki pleaded to her. "He hit the back of my leg with something, causing me to fall!"

"If that's true," Kenshi challenged him, grinning. "Then please tell me how is it possible for me to hit you when _both_ my hands and feet are chained together. Try to explain that away, traitor!"

"No, he's lying!"

"Well, if you're having trouble stay awake, miko," the slave driver sneered. "Perhaps I can help you." Turning toward the guards she shouted, "Give me a rope!"

When a Succubus tossed her a rope, the slave driver got off her steed and unchained Ryusaki from the slave train. Tying an end of the rope to his manacles, she tied the other end to her saddle. The guards kept their weapons trained on Ryusaki.

"Look guys, I'm going to drag a little miko all the way to her master's house!" the slave driver shouted to the guards, causing them to chortle in response. She then turned to sneer at Ryusaki. "Go ahead and sleep, girlie-boy," she said as she mounted her steed and ordered the slave train to continue. "You'll get there, one extremely long drag mark later."

As the slave driver urged her mount forward with Ryusaki in tow, three Beretta Anima followed them, the spirits of the widely known Italian automatic pistol aiming their namesake guns at the unfortunate Pipe Fox.

As Ryusaki continued to follow after the slave driver, Kenshi chuckled to himself, silently congratulating himself for a well executed plan. He then planned to make Ryusaki life a living hell until they entered the Commonwealth's territory. "Serves you right for betraying the entire province to Emperor Sutoku," Kenshi thought out loud.

About thirty-six meters away, a Wind Weasel who was chained with his kin glared at Kenshi as the latter smiled to himself. He'd seen the tall Pipe Fox kick the stone at his shorter neighbor, causing him to fall to the ground, and then have the audacity to get him into trouble. That Pipe Fox have betrayed a member of his own race to the enemy and, in the eyes of any Wind Weasel, that is always an invitation for some major payback.

"Just you wait, you Pipe Fox jerk off," he said to himself as Kenshi sticked his tongue out at Ryusaki, who seemed to ignore it. "Karma's a bitch...and I'm her messenger."

''''''''''''''''''''''''

"Everyone make camp here!" Lady Suzuka commanded her soldiers. "Put the slaves into their cages, slave drivers! Sentinels, get to your assigned posts and keep constant watch for the enemy! Anyone who is caught sleeping at her post will join the slave trains as a captive herself!"

As the first few stars began to appear in the night sky, the captives were hastily unchained, fed, and thrown into large cage wagons. Shoved into one such wagon, Ryusaki pushed his way through throngs of his frightened and exhausted kin as he looked for a place to sit. As a Pipe Fox's tail is large; however, such proved to be a challenge. Outside the cage, the Succubi and Anima saw that the captives were packed tightly together and joked about cutting off their tails to create more space. However, as a Pipe Fox considered his tail to be precious, the cruel jokes made the Pipe Foxes more fearful.

Finding a spot, Ryusaki was about to sit down when someone kicked him in the face, knocking him into another Pipe Fox, who gasped in surprise as he struggled to maintain his own balance. Rubbing his face, a bruise forming on the bridge of his nose, Ryusaki looked up just in time to see Kenshi coming at him again. However, as Ryusaki have no room to dodge, he watched helplessly as Kenshi rammed a fist into his stomach. His stomach was unable to handle the impact and most of the surrounding Pipe Foxes groaned in disgust when he vomited onto Kenshi's feet, spilling the partly digested food onto Kenshi's black socks and flat-heeled sandals.

"Ah..._gomen'nasai_?" Ryusaki apologized, gasping as he chuckled nervously.

Now infuriated, Kenshi gave off an animalistic screech as he plowed punch after punch into Ryusaki's face, forcing the Pipe Fox into the others. Ducking under another punch that caught the Pipe Fox standing behind him in the face, Ryusaki yelled as he punched Kenshi in the face, surprising him. Not wasting any time, Ryusaki slammed a kick into Kenshi head, knocking him into the iron bars of the cage. As Ryusaki went at him to finish the job, he was held back by a trio of Pipe Foxes who felt that the fight should be stopped before it got worse.

"What are you doing?!" one of the Pipe Foxes restraining him growled uneasily into his ear, her voice filled with fear. "Do you wish to make Suzuka angry?"

Wiping blood from his nose, Kenshi came at Ryusaki again, only for a group of Pipe Foxes to restrain him too. "Let go of me, you bastards!" he growled as he forcibly pushed a Pipe Fox away, only for two more to take his place. "I want his freaking head right now!"

"You're the one who's going to die, _baka_!" Ryusaki hissed.

"Oh yeah?! Oh yeah?! You and your twisted family will become the scum of the earth! You all will be hated by everyone and will have no friends! You might as well run to Emperor Sutoku and your traitorous father because you're just as bad as both of them!"

"Why, because he'd betrayed our race and left us behind?! We're victims too, you dumbass!"

Kenshi strained so much against his restrainers that they nearly slipped as they struggled to hold him back. "I dare you to say that in my face! Come closer, you coward! I'll bite your nose off-!"

*BANG!*

Everyone became silent as Ryusaki and Kenshi turned toward the source of the gunshot. Pointing a smoking rifle at the sky, the Succubus slave driver was very pissed indeed. Motioning to the Anima guards, she chambered another round as the Beretta and Naginata Anima moved toward the cage, the former aiming at the Pipe Foxes as the latter poked their long-armed weapons through the bars, forcing the captives to the other side of the cage. As a Succubus guard unlocked the gate, the slave driver handed her the rifle and ascended the stairs, glaring at Ryusaki and Kenshi when she stopped between them.

"What is the meaning of this?!" she demanded.

"Just a moment of disagreement, that is all," Kenshi answered grudgingly.

"Do you Pipe Foxes punch girls in the face when you can't settle things peacefully?!" The guards chuckled at the implied insult.

Ryusaki have had enough with the slave driver's insults. "Look miss," he was saying, his eyes filled with annoyance. "For the last time, I'm a male Pipe Fox, not a female-."

Ryusaki howled in falsetto when the slave driver karate-chopped him in the groin. Tears running down his face, Ryusaki fell to his knees and bend over, whining. "Now you're a girl," she said, sneering as her guards chuckled loudly.

"Aren't that the truth!" Kenshi agreed, smirking.

His smirk; however, disappeared just as quickly from his face when the slave driver subjected him to the same fate. "Now we have _two_ girls!" she said.

"Stupid...girl...," Kenshi groaned painfully.

"You can... say that... again," Ryusaki grunted.

"However, fun time's over!" the slave driver shouted, switching back to her previous mood. Even her guards stopped laughing. She then turned to glare at Ryusaki. "It seems that you're having trouble getting along with your own people, girlie-boy. Perhaps spending the night with the Wind Weasels will teach you a lesson. Maybe they'll toughen you up a little, make you into more of a man." Turning to the Succubus guard, she gave her an order, "Put this cross-dressing weakling in with the Wind Weasels."

The Succubus guard walked into the cage and aimed her rifle at Ryusaki. "Get up and move it," she simply said, aiming at his head.

Taking several deep breaths, Ryusaki barely managed to stand up before walking out of the cage. Allowing herself to mutter a curse under her breath, the slave driver turned to Kenshi. "And as for you, if I catch you two fighting again, I will personally give you both ten lashes with my whip," she threatened as she subconsciously stroked the aforementioned object. She then began to slowly turn toward the door, speaking over her shoulder, "If I was you, I would do well to remember-WAH!"

The slave driver screamed when she slipped on Ryusaki's vomit. Hitting the cage's wooden floor with a wet splat, her pained expression quickly contorted into that of extreme disgust when she realized what she'd just landed in. Everyone in the immediate vicinity sucked in a breath as they braced themselves for her incoming rage.

Getting back up, the slave driver looked at her heavily soiled clothing, her face contorting again, this time into sheer fury. "THAT'S IT! YOU BOTH ARE GETTING WHIPPED IN THE MORNING, TWENTY LASHES!" she screeched, causing even the Anima guards to tremble slightly in fear. Turning toward the cage entrance, she noticed that her Succubus guard and Ryusaki were still around and directed her rage at her. "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL HERE?! THROW HIM IN WITH THE WIND WEASELS, NOW, NOW, NOW!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" the guard whimpered in fear as she grabbed Ryusaki's arm and quickly pulled him away.

As the Succubus guard dragged Ryusaki toward his destination, Ryusaki looked around the camp, mentally counting the tired and scared faces that were locked behind the uncaring bars of the numerous cage wagons, losing count at forty-six. Sensing waves of uncertainty and doubt, Ryusaki thought about the dream he had only a few days ago, realizing that there will be more and more innocent spirits being dragged from their homes to become slaves for some uncaring demon unless he does something about it. However, until he figured out how to help them, he's just as useless as them even now. They appeared to be either too frightened or too uninspired to fight the Succubi and their Anima allies, unless...

"Hey," Ryusaki tapped the Succubi on the shoulder, causing her to jump. When she turned and saw that it was only him, she gave him a dirty look.

"What is it, girlie-boy?" she said, venom dripping from her words.

"Er, how many Wind Weasels and Snow Sprites have you girls captured?" he asked her.

The Succubi stopped dragging him and began to look him up and down, becoming suspicious. "We captured around fifty-four Wind Weasels and twenty-two Snow Sprites. Why you wanna know?"

"_Enough for at least a small raiding party,"_ Ryusaki thought. Noticing that the Succubus was getting more suspicious, Ryusaki pretended to be scared, whimpering in fear as he shook visibly, "Because I-I wanted t-to know how many pa-pairs of hands will beat me up, that i-is all."

The Succubus grinned evilly as she resumed dragging him to his destination. "In that case, " she said, giggling. "Me and my sisters shall be entertained tonight!"

Ryusaki smirked inwardly as the Succubus finally arrived at the Wind Weasel's cage. When the Wind Weasels saw the Succubus guard open the cage, they looked on with interest as she threw inside a Pipe Fox before locking the door and leaving. Dusting himself off, Ryusaki looked up to see the Wind Weasels looking at him. Ryusaki had heard stories of gangs of Wind Weasel bandits mugging Pipe Fox merchants near the Golden Sun Empire's northern borders and disappearing before Amaterasun forces could even realize that their caravans were being hit. Known for their speedy assaults and craftiness in addition to their limited ability to glide along air currents, Wind Weasels are very slippery foes who can only be caught by faster opponents like Succubi, for example.

Therefore, Ryusaki deducted, they were perfect for raiding, as well as skirmishing and chasing down routing enemies.

However, it was surprising that neither of them seemed to be inclined to bother him. Instead, they slowly began to crowd around him as if he was someone special. Finally, one of them stepped forward, tilting his head in curiosity as he regarded him. Wearing traditional garb, the Wind Weasel brown hair was shaped into a thick braid that stretched to the center of his back. His left ear was pierced with three earrings and a long, thin scar ran across the bridge of his nose, extending from cheekbone to cheekbone. His green eyes looked at Ryusaki with interest, reminding him of the first time Kimi seen a Pillow Phantom visit Hajimiya.

"So you're the Pipe Fox that Succubus' been yapping about," he said as he took a step closer to Ryusaki. His eyes descend to his miko costume, which was dirty and torn from his long trek from his hometown. "You may be no Susanoo no Mikoto but what's with the shrine girl gear, eh?"

Ryusaki was silent for a moment, not sure whether this Wind Weasel would insult him like the Succubi always did. Finally, he decided to risk it and replied, "I had to wear costumes such as this one to make a living selling foodstuff and items in my own hometown because our neighbors hate us."

"Wow, your neighbors must really hate your family for you to resort to cross-dressing in order to feed them," the Wind Weasel breathed softly in surprise. A few of the Wind Weasels snorted.

Narrowing his eyes, Ryusaki averted his eyes. "It was a mistake telling you that."

"No, no, no, not at all!" the Wind Weasel quickly rushed in to assured him. "I was just telling the guys and gals here of what I saw. Do you live inside or outside of your hometown?"

With a weary sigh, Ryusaki forced himself to look at the Wind Weasel again. "About a few miles outside," he finally said.

The Wind Weasel and his kin exchanged looks. "Then that settles it," he said, turning back to Ryusaki.

Ryusaki raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What settles what?"

"You are not the traitor that big Pipe Fox says you are," the Wind Weasel simply said, grinning. "If you were a traitor, you wouldn't live so close to those you betrayed, providing you're telling the truth about the location of your home. A real traitor would've put at least twenty miles or so between himself and his victims to avoid immediate retribution."

Ryusaki's expression lit up and he leaned closer to the Wind Weasel, glad that even a stranger knows that he's innocent. "So, you believe that I couldn't have betrayed my own people?"

"Of course! It's obvious that that jerk have misplaced his hatred onto you!" the Wind Weasel chuckled. He then narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "I don't understand one thing, though: why would he misplace his hatred on you in the first place?"

Ryusaki became somber as he recalled the tale. "Two years ago, my father secretly informed Emperor Sutoku of the lack of supervision Amaterasu was giving to my home province of Haitsuuko, in exchange for access to whatever knowledge he could obtain. Consequently, Sutoku sent raiding parties into Haitsuuko to enslave my people. Due to another deal between my father and Sutoku, my family are exempt from the raids."

The Wind Weasel and his kin became gloom as Ryusaki continued with his story, some of them becoming angry.

"However, a few days ago, Lady Suzuka showed me a notice written by my own father, stating that I was to be brought to Shuten-doji to be her personal spiritualist. Therefore, that is why I'm here, on my way to the Commonwealth."

Sucking on his teeth, the Wind Weasel shook his head slowly. "My father disinherited me because I'd accidentally burned down our village chief's tree house. Of course I'm over that now, didn't like the guy anyway. He was a useless tyrant who caused my mother to stay at her home village the majority of the time. Okay, I'm getting off track here! Back to my father: he was a bit like the village chief, both being drinking buddies for like what, five centuries now? However, he would _never _betray me to my enemies, no matter how much I got on his nerves. Anyone who betrays his own flesh and blood is just as bad as those who's doing the enslaving."

"How long was it after your father kicked you out?" Ryusaki asked him.

"Oh, it's been about twenty years now," The Wind Weasel replied, gesturing. "I've been using my wits and luck to stay alive, with mixed success. If you have a home to go to, you'll always respawn back there when killed, even if you haven't been there in a long time. However, if you a homeless and wandering spirit like me, you'll bound to respawn at a random location in the Spirit World. Last time I died, I respawned inside Cu Sith's bathroom while she was taking a shower. Though I got out of there before she could kill me with three barks, I had to give a country's worth of angry fairies the slip as I high-tailed it out of the Fairy Kingdom. Good thing that King Oberon wasn't there, though."

"That must've been tough," Ryusaki smiled, feeling better for the first time in days.

"Yes it was," Grinning, the Wind Weasel extended his hand. "The name's Keroshi."

"Ryusaki," Ryusaki said, smiling as he looked at the other Wind Weasels. Though most of them felt anger at Ryusaki and his family's predication, Ryusaki could tell that the remainder weren't sure whether they should believe him or not. "Who are these guys? Are they with you?"

Keroshi grinned as he motioned to the others. "Heh, this is just a little gang I'd formed to get back at Sutoku for raiding their villages. The Snow Sprites; however, had already been captured when the Succubi took us down." Keroshi seemed to notice the Wind Weasels ambivalence because he added, "Anyway, I have an idea: if you were to show these guys the notice Suzuka showed to you with your father's signature on it, they will know that you're telling the truth and will help you get back at your father, if you choose to."

"I'll do it," Ryusaki said to Keroshi as he looked at the surrounding Succubi as they were beginning to go to bed. "First, we would have to wait until these girls go to sleep."

"Can you Pipe Foxes enchant your tails to become hard enough to be used as shields and blunt weapons?"

"Yes."

Keroshi smirked as he pointed to the cage's wooden floor. "I'd just found the perfect spot to use it."

Ryusaki looked at Keroshi as if he'd just lost his mind. "Won't bashing the wood wake up the Succubi?"

"Not if you slowly push down against the wood until it slowly breaks apart," Keroshi hinted.

Ryusaki only nodded. "A bit too noisy for my taste but it's worth a shot."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

At the outskirts of Lady Suzuka's army...

"Say, do you think there will be Incubi in Shutenmaji?" A Succubus sentinel asked her comrade as the two began to change shifts.

"If so, I can't wait until I meet a charming and sexy Incubus," the second Succubus said, blushing dreamily at the prospect of meeting the male counterpart of her race. "We would resign from the military and get married. We would have a huge family and live happily ever after!"

"Well, I wish you the best of luck, then."

As the two Succubi conversed with each other, three pairs of eyes watched them from behind the cover of tall grass. After a brief exchange of whispers, one of them poked his face through the grass, his eyes trained on his two prey. Belonging to the Taima class of Shuriken Anima, he specializes in the use of heavy darts, two of which he pulled from holders fastened to his wrists. Readying himself, the Taima took several deep breaths before swinging his hand in a wide arc, launching the darts. The two Succubi gulped in shock as the dart found their marks on their windpipes. Blood bubbled out of the Succubi's quavering mouths moments before they collapsed into two lifeless heaps.

Turning toward the two still hiding in the grass, the Taima gave them a thumbs up. One of them rose from the grass, a female Shuriken Anima of the Fuma class that specialized in using throwing stars. Cupping her hands over her mouth, the Fuma made bird calls as she rotated her head. Several distant bird calls were raised in reply.

Nodding to the third Shuriken Anima, who was a male Fuma, the female Fuma motioned to the Taima before the three sneaked into the camp, passing over the bodies of the Succubi. In the distance, several more of the Anima shinobi entered the camp after dispatching the Succubi sentinels in similar fashion.

After infiltrating through the camp, the Female Fuma gestured her crew to split and went over to a wagon containing ammo. She then crawled underneath the wagon just as two Succubi passed by, taking about personal things. Making sure the coast was clear, the Fuma took out a flare with a slow burning fuse. Attaching the flare to the underside of the wagon, she lit the fuse. As the tiny fire slowly consumed the fuse, making very little noise while creating almost no sparks, the Fuma made sure the coast was again clear before crawling from underneath the wagon and making her way back to the starting point. In the corner of her eye, she can see her crew and the other Shuriken Anima returning from planting the flares. With the camp none the wiser, the shinobi disappeared into the night as quickly as they have came. A few minutes later, bright smoke of different colors rose into the air one by one.

As the lit flares made the cam brighter and more busy, had anyone looked at the hills towering over the encampment from its right, they would've noticed hundreds of glints of light covering them. If any of them were curious enough to take a closer look without getting shot by an unseen attacker, they would've found out too late that the light were actually being reflected off a thousand waiting swords and other weaponry, each of them eager to shed Sutokun blood.

Her beautiful face partly revealed by the multicolored light, Princess Konohanasakuya smirked as the foolish Succubi and their Anima comrades-in-arms tried to extinguish the targeting flares with water. Made with an oily substance, the flares will burn until they run out of fuel. By then, Lady Suzuka's army would already be decimated. Come to think of it, that demonic princess have the audacity to steal her favorite color to use it for her army's color, forcing her to stick with dark purple instead.

"Well, at least it'll be black with scorch marks when I get through with Suzuka," she said to herself as she steadied her spirit steed before whacking the top of a nearby catapult with the flat of her battle fan, initiating the signal to attack. As the Gremlins lit the explosive pots, Konohanasakuya grinned as hundreds of the projectiles were sent into the enemy camp. As the explosions began to erupt, the bright light revealed hundreds of Kotetsu Anima marching toward Suzuka's camp to finish the job as squads of mounted Michizane's Bow Anima rode closer to hound the surviving warriors with arrows.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"WAH!" Ryusaki and the Wind Weasels screamed when an explosion knocked the cage wagon they were in onto its side. Landing on top of a Wind Weasel, Ryusaki shook his head as his ears ringed loudly due to the explosion.

"Ryusaki! Ryusaki!" Keroshi seemed to yell. However Ryusaki still couldn't hear him well. However, after a few seconds have passed, he could hear again as the sounds of battle caused him to snap to attention.

"I'm here!" he said as he got to his feet, standing on the ground.

"Someone is attacking Suzuka's army!" Keroshi shouted above the din. "This could be our only chance to escape so let's get the hell out of here!"

"Right!" Ryusaki said as he got into position in front of what was a moment ago the floor of the cage. Murmuring an incantation, Ryusaki heard the Wind Weasel gasp in awe as his tail became bordered in a light-blue outline of energy. "Stand back, everyone!"

Bringing his tail back, Ryusaki slammed it against the wood several times until it gave way. Kicking the edges of the hole until he made it big enough to walk through, he left the wagon and helped the Wind Weasels to freedom. As explosive projectiles continued to rain on the camp, Ryusaki led the Wind Weasels to another cage wagon containing more Wind Weasels and a few Snow Sprites. Freeing them, Ryusaki turned to Keroshi. "Do you have any idea where they're keeping the weapons?" he asked him.

"I think that I saw them being placed into one of the wagons closest to Suzuka's tent," he said, scratching his head. "However, I don't think the Succubi will let you get close enough to get to them, though."

"In that case, let's find some weapons to use!" Ryusaki say before turning to the Snow Sprites. Though they were scared, resembling little children with white hair and wintry auras that can freeze a drop of water within seconds, Ryusaki could see a bit of fight left in their eyes. "Okay guys, I'm going to lead you to freedom. Just keep close to me and help us out a bit, okay?"

The Snow Sprites nodded, becoming a bit braver.

"Good," Ryusaki turned toward Keroshi. "You're ready to fight?"

Keroshi grinned fiercely as if Ryusaki had just asked the dumbest question in the Spirit World. "I'm a Wind Weasel, Ryusaki!" he said as he cracked his knuckles. "I'm always ready for a fight!"

"Good!" Ryusaki said as he led the others toward a group of Succubi, who weren't aware of the incoming threat. "Because you're about to get one!"

'''''''''''''''''''''

"First rank, FIRE!"

The ranks of Succubi lying on the ground in front of their comrades opened fire with their rifles. In front of them, lines of Kotetsu went down, their dying cries muffled by the battlecries of their comrades who then began to charge. Next to the Succubi formation was a squad of Berettas who were firing constantly at the enemy. Behind the Succubi was the Naginatas, readying themselves to engage in melee with the Succubi should the Kotetsu clash with them.

"Second rank!" the Succubus lieutenant yelled again. "FIRE!"

A row of smoke blanketed the middle row of the gunners and hundred of bullets tore through the Kotetsu ranks, killing a handful of them instantly. However, the fiery Anima disregarded their comrades' deaths as they quickly began to close the remaining distance.

"Damn it to Amaterasu!" the Succubus lieutenant swore as she aimed her pistol at the closest Kotetsu. "Fire at will!"

Firing the shot, the Succubus was aware of galloping coming from the left and turned to face the noise. She have not even began to comprehend what was making those sounds when several arrow shafts suddenly spouted from her chest. As the Succubus' world became dark, she was keenly aware of arrows whizzing pass her and into the ranks of her soldiers. Before she finally died, the Succubus could almost hear the screams of surprise and agony and the tearful whimpers that followed as they died by the handfuls.

'''''''''''''''''''''''

Launching arrows at a specific location, a squad of Michizane horse archers were surprised when a single beam of volatile purple and yellow energy zoomed from that very location and slammed into their midst, vaporizing all of them in a large explosion. Infuriated, Lady Suzuka rode out of the camp and toward the enemy alongside her mounted and experienced Succubi warriors. Projecting a shield of purple energy that blocked the Bow Anima's arrows, Suzuka howled in fury as her warriors attacked another Michizane squad with semi-automatic guns, mowing the horse archers down along with their steeds.

"PRINCESS KONOHANASAKUYA, COME OUT YOU COWARD!" Suzuka screeched at the top of her lungs. "FACE ME, JUST YOU AND ME!"

In the distance, Konohanasakuya appeared, riding alongside mounted Kotetsu. With a fierce sneer, Konohanasakuya and her warriors rode faster, closing the remaining meters.

"Take out your swords and put away your guns!" Suzuka yelled at the Succubi, who complied, unsheathing their black-bladed swords after putting away their ranged weapons. Suzuka then turned back to Konohanasakuya. "Your head will be mine!"'

"That's my lineeeeeeee!" Konohanasakuya yelled seconds before the two forces clashed in a fury of blades and energy.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''

An explosive pot landed in the midst of a squad of Succubi, killing them all in a fiery blast. The concussion wave knocked a lone Succubus, who happened to be at a safe distance from the explosion, into a cage wagon filled with Pipe Foxes. Barely managing to keep her grip on the rifle she was carrying, the Succubus shook herself back to her senses and was about to run back to the fighting when a pair of hands grabbed her head from behind, wringing her neck with a powerful jerk.

Grabbing her rifle, Kenshi let go of the dead Succubus and aimed at the door's lock, blasting it to pieces with a well-placed shot. Kicking the door open, Kenshi quickly turned toward the rest of the Pipe Foxes, who weren't sure whether it was safe to leave the cage. "Come on, guys!" he yelled, beckoning furiously for them to follow him. "Let's get out of here before the Succubi win the battle!"

Despite his best efforts to encourage his kin to follow him, only a few complied, including what was left of his gang. As his small band left the cage, Kenshi robbed the Succubus he'd just killed of spare ammo and joined them, shooting every Succubi and Anima who got in his way. As the rain of explosives began to stop, Kenshi shot open the locks on the rest of the cage wagons and gathered the few Pipe Foxes who were brave enough to escape. As the escapees began to spread out, either avoiding or attacking anyone who got in their way, Kenshi lingered behind to search for the very person he hated. Though the surrounded chaos proved to be a challenge, Kenshi knew that the person in question was still around and began to search vigorously for him.

Even if it meant being captured again, Kenshi resolved to stop at nothing to make sure that Ryusaki dies with a bullet in his head before this night was out.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"GWUAHAHA! You're not going to believe the idiocy of the person who's fighting Suzuka's army, Ryusaki!"

Pulling the trigger, Ryusaki fired a rifle he'd picked up earlier at one of the band's Succubi attackers. One of the Succubi went down in a red mist. Chambering another round in the same way he'd seen the Succubi do, Ryusaki turned to Keroshi. "What do you mean, Keroshi?" he asked.

"This dumbass is sending _Kotetsu_ to fight against _Succubi_!" Keroshi replied, laughing out loud as bullets whizzed pass his head, forcing him to duck behind the cover of a partly destroyed wagon. "A Kotetsu is no match for a Succubus even in a fair fight!"

"Yes, but my sister says that a Kotetsu is naturally disciplined and very resistant to shocks of morale," Ryusaki said as he shot another Succubi. "Perhaps that's why they're one of the most popular mercenaries and loyal troops to hire."

Keroshi shrugged before icing the last of the Succubi with a lucky shot. "Still, I would make sure that the soldiers I choose can _actually_ fight the enemy."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that a weaker spirit can never win against a stronger foe," Ryusaki reasoned with Keroshi as he led the ragtag group of Wind Weasels and Snow Sprites toward Suzuka's tent. "All they need is a capable leader who can figure out the best way to take down the foe and they'll be formidable indeed."

"Well, if I was to meet that person, I would follow that person to the ends of the earth, even into the Physical World."

Ryusaki shared Keroshi's smile. "No doubt you will."

Suddenly, two Wind Weasels in front of them writhed when a hail of bullets slammed into them, splattering blood everywhere. As the pair went down, Ryusaki's eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of the cause of their deaths: a squad of no less than six Beretta Anima was blocking their path, their automatic pistols sending lead in their direction.

"Quick, get behind my tail!" Ryusaki yelled as he quickly flipped his still glowing tail over his head, drooping it downward to form an impromptu shield in front of him.

Keroshi and his Wind Weasel kin, as well as the Snow Sprites, quickly fell in behind him. Ryusaki grunted as a hail of heavy objects hammered into his tail, the dull but relentless pain traveling to his spine. As the group slowly advanced, Keroshi and every Wind Weasel who was armed with a gun took potshots at the Berettas, killing one of them. Relying on his spiritualistic senses, Ryusaki felt the ripples of movements in front of him as the Berettas spread out, itching farther from each other. The coordination and direction of the enemy's movements raised a few red flags as the hammering became progressively more painful. Therefore, Ryusaki quickly assumed the worst of both situations.

"I think the enemy's trying to outflank us!" Ryusaki shouted to Keroshi over the sound of gunfire. "Worst, the incantation on my tail is wearing off! Any ideas on what should we do?!"

"Well, I could say that we blow them to pieces or distract them!" Keroshi managed a one arm shrug before taking more potshots. "Unfortunately, we don't have any powerful spells or weapons to use so yes, we're screwed!"

"That's it!" Ryusaki exclaimed as an idea formed inside his head. Turning his attention to the Snow Sprites in the rear, he then asked them, "Do you guys know of any wintry spell that can help us out here?"

One of the Snow Sprites, a female with a pair of hair bobs that strangely resembled snowballs, muttered tentatively, "Well, we have a ritual called the 'Tundra Wave'. By fanning our hands, we can summon and direction a small blizzard in any direction. However, it's more powerful in colder climates than anywhere else."

Ryusaki and Keroshi looked at each other. "It's worth a shot," Ryusaki grunted, attempting to ignore the increasing pain as best as he could.

Keroshi only grinned. "Hell, it's a lot better than my plan of feigning surrender and then attacking them as soon as they get close enough."

Ryusaki blinked in surprise. "Well... that's a good plan too, Keroshi."

Keroshi only shrugged. "Well, let's combine the two plans, omitting the surrendering part, of course."

Ryusaki swore that his sneer closely matched that of Ryonami. "I thought you'll never ask."

''''''''''''''''''''

"Espandere! Espandere!" the leader of the Beretta squad, a male with a brown crew cut partly hidden by his forest green beret, ordered his comrades in Italian as they spread out, trying to get a bead on the escaping slaves' flanks. Despite the strangely eerie and fascinating, yet very effective, shield the Pipe Fox created using his large tail, he knew that it wouldn't hold up for much longer under the current stresses placed on it. Already, the strange blue barrier covering the appendage was beginning to flicker.

"Open a-fire when you get a-closer and a good shot!" he shouted, firing into the makeshift the foolish Pipe Fox have put up. "Put them down, _immediatamente_!"

Suddenly, an onslaught of frigid wind laced with snow flowed into the entire Beretta squad. Those who were the closest to the fugitives were frozen solid while the rest were smitten by the unnatural blizzard, their muscles moving very sluggishly in the bitter winter wind.

Barely able to move faster to his liking, the Beretta watched helpless as the slaves broke from their cover just as the strange blizzard ended and ran toward his squad, shooting anyone who so much as raised their weapons in their direction. A stray bullet impacted a female Beretta who was frozen solid by the blizzard, shattering her into a thousand pieces.

Staring at the Pipe Fox with eyes full of hatred, the Beretta sluggishly raised his weapon at him, leveling the gun at his heart. When the Pipe Fox looked in his direction, his eyes widened in shock and terror when he saw the pistol aiming at his chest, much to the Beretta's satisfaction.

"_Goodbye, you annoying little bastardo," _ the Beretta thought before he pulled the trigger... or at least tried to, as the tiny muscles in his trigger finger were too numb to contract effectively. Seeing his predicament, the Pipe Fox quickly aimed his rifle at him and pulled the trigger.

"Son of a _volpe_!" the Beretta managed to utter out a curse before his chest exploded.

''''''''''''''''''''''''

After the last mobile Beretta went down, Keroshi went over to a slain female Beretta and bended down to pick up her gun. He haven't even begun to touch the weapon when it dissolved into a handful of sparkles that eventually vanished. Needless to say, Keroshi was very, very disappointed.

"Argh!" he groaned loudly as he clasped the sides of his head. "For so long had I waited for the chance to finally get a Beretta's pistol for myself, only for it to disappear on me like that! Oh ancestors, what have I done to deserve this?!"

"An Anima's namesake weapon is an extension of themselves, as well as the source of their power," Ryusaki explained to him as the group got closer to the weapons cart. "Only they can touch their weapons, let alone use them."

Keroshi was still disappointed. "But I really want a powerful weapon."

"Don't worry, you'll find one, I promise," Ryusaki assured him when the group arrived at the cart next to Suzuka's tent. After the group uncovered the wagon, the Wind Weasels began taking strange weapons that consisted of vambraces with sickle blades attached to them via their flat ends. On each weapon, a clear vial containing a strange, clear liquid is built into the vambrace, feeding the liquid in question into the razor sharp edge of the nearly transparent sickle blade via tiny tubes.

"These are the most common Wind Weasel weapons you would ever find in the Spirit World," Keroshi said to Ryusaki as he put on his sickle vambraces. "The vials contain a powerful concoction that not only eliminates the pain but numbs the nerves in the affected limb too. You wouldn't even know how badly you've been cut until you find yourself bleeding to death."

"I'll keep that in mind," Ryusaki said and he searched through the various weapons inside the cart. He ass looking of a particular weapon, one he really do not be parted from again.

"Do you Pipe Foxes have trademark weapons or do you even fight at all?" Keroshi asked him.

"Well, a few of us know how to use katanas for self protection and such. We don't usually go around picking fights with other spirits or resort to bullying each other. Of course, there are always jerks in every race..." Ryusaki stopped in mid-sentence when he saw a familiar katana's blue and gold handle sticking out from the piles of weapons. Moreover, it seemed to be calling out to him subconsciously, as if beckoning him to hold it once more. Pulling the weapon free with a few yanks, Ryusaki held the sheathed katana tightly to his chest as he slowly rocked it like a baby, a tear forming in his left eye.

"Kamikashi, it feels so good to have you with me again," he said in a low voice, not caring about who was looking at him. The weapon seemed to glow in the smoke-filled night air as if in acknowledgement.

"It's good that you love your weapon, Ryusaki. because I just can't be satisfied with mine. Anyway, I'll be right back." Keroshi went over to Suzuka's tent and sliced a long slit in the fabric for him to step through, which he did. A few minutes later, Keroshi reappeared, holding up a pair of lavender panties with a bellflower design on the front. Most of the escapees whistled and cheered in congratulation while a few looked on with confusion and annoyance.

Ryusaki blinked in confusion. "You've got to be kidding me..."

"I'd never dreamed of the day in which I steal the underpants of _Lady Suzuka _herself!" Keroshi said proudly, wearing the biggest grin he'd ever wore in his life. "I am so keeping this as a souvenir!"

Attaching his weapon to his waist belt, Ryusaki groaned and gave himself a facepalm. "Now that you've just stolen a demon princess' panties, let's get out of here before she comes back. I don't like the idea of being skinned alive."

"Roger that...," Keroshi froze in mid-sentence as he suddenly stared into the distance, his interest suddenly focused on something. Before Ryusaki could turned to look, Keroshi suddenly grabbed his shoulders, pulling him closer to him. A mischievous grin spread over his face. "On second thought, there something that I want to do first."

Ryusaki raised an eye brow. "Really?" he asked inquisitively, wondering what the Wind Weasel could possible be up to. "What are you planning to do?"

"There's no time to explain!" Keroshi said sharply, causing Ryusaki to jump. Calming down, he let go of the Pipe Fox and took a step back as he stuffed the panties into his tunic. "I... got some secret mission to do, something that would buy us some time. You must get out of here, Ryusaki. I'd meet you soon."

Ryusaki glanced around the ruined camp, as well as the fighting along the edges. If this wasn't sufficient to keep the enemy busy, Ryusaki was clueless. Finally, he relented, not wanting to know what Keroshi had planned. "Okay, but please don't get recaptured, okay? I won't be able to linger around for much longer if the Succubi sent out search parties to recapture slaves."

Keroshi only smirked as he turned to leave. "As tired as those demonic harlots are, I doubt that they'll have enough energy to even fly after me."

Keeping his eyes on Keroshi for a few minutes, Ryusaki was just about to lead the others out of the camp when he remembered something. Bidding the others to wait, Ryusaki entered Suzuka's tent and exited minutes later holding the scroll he was looking for. Stuffing the scroll into his kimono, Ryusaki gave look last and worried look in Keroshi's direction before leading the others out of the camp.

''''''''''''''''''''''''

"_Ryusaki's going to die when I find him! Of course he'll respawn back at his house but that allows me plenty of time to go back to Hajimiya and kill him over and over again. Why, I'll even kill his family too if they get in my way! Decapitation, headshot, strangulation, it doesn't matter: he'll die one way or another!"_

As the vengeful thoughts entered Kenshi's head, he looked around for Ryusaki amid the chaos, his bloodshot eyes filled with fury. Clenching the handle of the rifle tighter, Kenshi continued to trudge along, oblivious to the gradual decrease in the fighting.

As Kenshi continued to look around, a Wind Weasel stepped into view, blocking his path. Annoyed by the sudden intrusion, Kenshi growled and motioned with his rifle for the newcomer to move out of his way. "Get lost, Wind Weasel. You're not the one I'm looking for."

"Are you perchance looking for Ryusaki?" the Wind Weasel asked out of the blue, looking at him with interest. Or was it malice in his eyes?

The mentioned of the name caused Kenshi to look at the Wind Weasel with sudden interest. "How did you know that name?!" Kenshi bombarded the Wind Weasel with questions. "Had he talked to you or something?! Where is he now?!"

"I'm confused," the Wind Weasel said, shrugging in mock confusion. "Why do you hunt down someone whose are an outcast because of someone else's folly?"

Kenshi chuckled in derision. "So you _did_ talked to him, huh? You probably believed the crap he's been spoon-feeding you! Well, let me tell you something: he isn't to be trusted at all! He's a traitor just like his father! Like father, like son!"

"If that's true, then I find that troublesome!" the Wind Weasel grinned slyly . "The Pipe Fox who betrays his own people and then is betrayed by his own father in return. Sounds like karma to me."

Kenshi gave the Wind Weasel a fierce grin. "Now do you see why I must find and kill that _baka?_! You're welcome to help me find him if you want."

The Wind Weasel rolled him eyes and gave Kenshi a flat stare. "I find that to be, how should I say it, _total BS_."

With an annoyed grunt, Kenshi spat to the side before glaring into the smirking Wind Weasel's eyes. "I don't have time for this bullcrap!" he growled, jabbing his weapon's muzzle at him. "If you're going to stand in my way, I will _kill_ you, you hear me?! Get the hell out of my way!"

"I fear that your journey ends here, bully," was all the Wind Weasel said before flying out at Kenshi. Surprised by the sudden attack, Kenshi quickly raised his rifle and opened fire. However, the Wind Weasel easily dodged the bullet and swinged a punch that seemed to fall short of his face. However, a glint of light reflected off the surface of an invisible object that breezed pass his neck. Grinning, the Wind Weasel backflipped back to his starting position.

Infuriated at the bluff, Kenshi quickly roared in fury as he leveled his rifle at the Wind Weasel, who simply stood there as if disregarding the immediate threat. Suddenly, Kenshi's war cry was cut short when a warm and coppery tasting liquid flowed down his trachea and into his lungs. Choking on the liquid, Kenshi looked down and found to his horror that his own blood was gushing out of a large slit on his throat that he'd never even felt. Looking up, Kenshi shuddered to find some of his blood on the cutting edge of one of the sickle vambraces the Wind Weasel was wearing.

It wasn't a bluff, after all.

"How...*_cough_*...how...?" he choked out, unable to understand how he could've gotten into such a predicament so quickly.

"When you respawn at your village," the Wind Weasel simply said as he watched Kenshi collapse to his knees. "Tell your friends and relatives that their hatred of Ryusaki and his family is sadly misplaced. Tell them that the only person they should hate is his father."

"What is *_gasp_* your name...? I want *_cough cough_* to remember *_gurgle_* the bastard who killed me." Kenshi struggled to ask the Wind Weasel, who simply nonchalantly inspected his fingers.

"Just call me Keroshi, m'kay? Don't bother with coming back for vengeance, though: I'm always ready for round two and I guarantee that you will lose a second time."

"You will die *_gurgle_*...slowly...Kero...shi," With a final gurgle, Kenshi finally fell on his face and became still.

"Payback managed," Keroshi said after a few minutes of silence before running to catch up with Ryusaki and the others.


	3. Chapter 2: A Fox's Respite

**Disclaimer: I own none of the works belonging to Zynga, the maker of Ayakashi: Ghost Guild, neither do I own any of the characters nor places inside said game, save for those imagined and created by me.**

**Chapter 2: A Fox's Respite**

Lady Suzuka's Encampment

Early the next morning...

Lavender flags with reddish-pink bellflower motifs waved in the cool morning air. From the east, the first few rays of the sun peeked from the horizon, casting a dim light on a battlefield riddled with scorch marks, craters, and the still evaporating bodies of those who'd just died over half an hour ago. On the hill overlooking the partly ruined camp, dozens of the abandoned catapults were being dismantled by the Succubi and Anima and brought into the camp, their Gremlin crews having long since been routed back to the Golden Sun Empire.

As some of the surviving Succubi and Anima packed up what was left unscathed by the explosions last night, the rest herded the few Pipe Foxes, as well as other captives, who'd attempted to escape during last night's battle into slave trains. In addition, the handful of Michizane Bow Anima who were captured alive were promptly added to fill in the vacancies left by those who successfully eluded recapture. No Kotetsu captives were to be found among the slave trains; however, as they had either retreated when the rest of the enemy army was routed, decided to fight to the last spirit when surrounded, or had committed seppuku when the battle was lost, choosing death by ritual suicide rather than the dishonor of capture and slavery.

In front of Suzuka's tent was the demon princess herself, a look of pride on her face. In front of her was the beaten and chained form of Princess Konohanasakuya herself, panting in exhaustion. As Suzuka's Succubi lieutenants formed a wide circle around the two, Konohanasakuya lifted her head to glare tiredly at Suzuka, who grinned in derision.

"You've never changed, you know that, Konoha?" Suzuka finally broke the ice. "Always intent on starting a fight, yet never bringing the right soldiers to win it. Even Fleur uses her head and she haven't been a general as long as you. Sometimes I wonder why Amaterasu is even keeping you."

"That's funny, since I can't even figure out why she would choose you to be one of her generals in the first place," Konohanasakuya grumbled, unable to speak as loud as she wanted due to her injuries. "What's even more strange is why you would defect to Emperor Sutoku in the first place. You had everything you could possibly need when you were fighting on our side!"

"Everything but recognition," Suzuka corrected, reaching to touch Konohanasakuya's face. With a tired growl, Konohanasakuya quickly jerked her head away. "When Amaterasu was hiding in the Heavenly Cave after Susanoo's idiotic actions, I thought that she prized me enough to come back to the outside world. However, when I tried to coax her out, she simply told me to go away, as if I was an unwanted stranger. Worse, she prized that dancing lapdog Ameno Uzume more than she should've done for me, despite the fact that Uzume wasn't even a low ranking soldier in her army at the time, just a traveling dancer! Fortunately, Sutoku proved himself to be a better spirit and leader than Amaterasu."

Shaking her hand, Konohanasakuya gave a small chuckle, which caused Suzuka to raised an eyebrow. "You ran teary-eyed to Sutoku because Amaterasu didn't choose to inflate your already expanding ego?"

Gripping her sword tighter, Suzuka glared dangerously at Konohanasakuya, gritting her teeth. "You think you're any better?"

Konohanasakuya decided to poke the bear harder. "Sure Amaterasu may be too busy at times to acknowledge my achievements but you don't see me throwing a tantrum over it."

"Shut up."

"You must've been neglected by your family to become sooo hungry for attention. My, I think you and Hashihime may be related..."

"Shut up before I get mad!"

"I don't blame Amaterasu for shunning you, Suzuka. Hell, it probably felt like being raided constantly by Namehage's band of bandits-"

"I SAID SHUT THE HELL UP!" Suzuka roared in fury as she dashed toward Konohanasakuya, running her through with her katana.

Konohanasakuya gulped in pain, then began to shudder as her life slowly began to fade away. Coughing up a glob of blood, Konohanasakuya hung her head of silver locks and barely managed a dying chuckle. "We'll meet...again,... Suzuka and, next time, I... will win..."

"Just die already!" Suzuka said, before yanking her katana free, causing Konohanasakuya to gasp in pain. With a precise slice from Suzuka's weapon, Konohanasakuya crumpled to the ground, her head rolling a few feet away.

Wiping the princess' blood off her katana's blade with a cloth, Suzuka sheathed the weapon and turned to face the nearest Succubus, who trembled when her master's icy glance fell on her. "I want you to do two things for me," Suzuka told her.

"Ah... w-whatever you request of m-me, I-I'll do it," the Succubus stuttered, making an awkward salute.

"First, I want you to tell the slave drivers to give a tally of the slaves that successfully escaped their supervision. Don't tell them that those who lost a significant number of slaves will be sent home wearing nothing but their undies."

"Yes, my l-lady and what w-would your second request be?"

The Succubus' heart nearly stopped beating when Suzuka's expression became dangerous. "Look for the slave driver who is in charge of guarding a certain Pipe Fox named Ryusaki and tell her to report to me," Suzuka finally said. "If she haven't been killed in the fighting, then she has a rather horrid fate awaiting her if that Pipe Fox is gone."

"Right away, my lady!" Quickly turning on a toe, the Succubus went off to complete her duties. With a tired yawn, Suzuka turned and went into her tent. Looking around the interior, Suzuka went over to where she kept a small chest, stopping when she took a good look at what was left of it. Wooden pieces were scattered everywhere and the metal parts were badly warped, almost as if the whole thing was smashed to pieces by a large and heavy object. The content of the ruined chest, the scroll that was written and signed by Ryusaki's father, was gone and Suzuka had a good idea on who could've stolen it.

That useless slave driver has hell to pay...lots and lots of it.

Infuriated, Suzuka kicked the pieces aside and ran for the tent's entrance. She was about to exit the tent when, out the corner of her eye, she noticed that her clothes were unusually out of place. Hastily inspecting the clothes, Suzuka became even more furious when she realized that one of her prized articles was missing. Throwing her head back, Suzuka unleashed a powerful screech, her enraged screams heard outside her tent. She was very, very angry and she is going to let _everyone_ know it.

"WHO THE HELL STOLE MY PANTIES~?!"

''''''''''''''''''''''''

A cave at an unknown location, about five miles from the encampment.

28 minutes later...

"You're really attached to that thing, aren't you?" Ryusaki asked, a blank look on his face. A sweat drop ran down the back of his head.

"Yep, this is a one of a kind trophy," Keroshi beamed, stretching Suzuka's stolen panties. Giving the undergarment a kiss, which elicited a 'bleh' from Ryusaki, Keroshi shoved them back into his tunic and rubbed his hands together. "So, did you get the scroll you'd told us about?"

"Right, here it is," Reaching into his kimono, Ryusaki gave Keroshi the scroll. Winking playfully, Keroshi went off to show it to the Wind Weasels who were awake. Making sure that no one was watching him, Ryusaki reached down and gently removed a dagger a sleeping Wind Weasel was holding in his hand. Taking a deep breath, Ryusaki pressed the point of the dagger to his heart as he remembered what Keroshi told him last night:

"_If you have a home to go to, you'll always respawn back there when killed, even if you haven't been there in a long time."_

If Ryusaki was to kill himself right here and now, he knew that he will respawn back at his home. When he finally come to, he would hold his family as if it'd been years since he was last taken away from them. He would apologize to Kimi, earn whatever punishment his mother would give to him, and will continue to live as if nothing happened. His ancestors have made a grave mistake in choosing him to save the world. AUsing one hand to hold Kamikashi tightly so that it will respawn with him, Ryusaki tried to convince himself that the ancestors have foolishly overestimated him. That daring escape last night was only possible because of pure luck.

Someone else deserves to become the hero he has no right to be.

As Ryusaki closed his eyes and slowly pushed the blade deeper with the other hand, a sudden ringing jerked him back to his senses. Glancing around, Ryusaki shifted his fox ears around to pinpoint the ringing. When it came again, Ryusaki looked at his katana, his eyes widening in surprise to find that it was the source of the noise. Ryusaki looked around to see if the others heard the ringing as well. However, none of them were even looking in his direction. Even Keroshi was oblivious to the sound.

"What is happening?" Ryusaki wondered to himself as he inspected his katana, wondering whether Suzuka had somehow bewitched it.

The katana gave off a third ring and Ryusaki gasped when one of his arms, the one holding the dagger to his chest, suddenly straightened out on its own will and flinged the dagger into the distance. The weapon flew out of the cave and disappeared into the bushes. Retracting his arm, Ryusaki flexed the fingers and looked at his katana again, stunned that the weapon he'd cherished since childhood somehow prevented him from committing suicide. Ryusaki wasn't sure whether it was his ancestors' doing or not but, regardless, he felt a strong sense of shame.

Sure he'll be home with his family if he killed himself but what about these spirits? They are far from home, perhaps being so for so long that they would've even forgotten their relatives' faces. They needed someone to guide them, to form them into a functional raiding party who will get back at those who took them from their families in the first place, as well as to free those who are already captured. As much as his family missed him, Ryusaki knew that they would've wanted him to fulfill his destiny, even if they never see him again. He felt that they would've wanted him to be selfless enough to make that sacrifice.

Of course, that didn't mean that he can't do anything to see them again.

"Great news, Ryusaki!" Keroshi announced, jerking Ryusaki out of his musings. He was grinning wildly as he held up the scroll. "The doubters in our midst now firmly believe that you told us the whole truth! Now they seemed to be eager enough to help you kick your father's ass!"

"That is good, very good," Ryusaki turned to smile at him. Though he now felt a bit better since escaping captivity, his small band of fugitives was no match for their captors, who are still too close by for comfort. Worse, they have no food and only a little extra ammo. To make matters worse, they were lost, with no map to use to pinpoint their exact location. For all Ryusaki knew, they could be at least about eighteen miles to the Commonwealth's northern border.

"Is there something wrong?" Keroshi asked, becoming a bit worried.

Ryusaki leaned closer to Keroshi and spoke in a whispered voice, looking around to make sure no one was watching them, "Are you sure that you and everyone else would want to follow me? I don't really have experience in leading others."

Keroshi shrugged, giving him a playful scoff. "It's strange that the very one who managed to keep us all together during our rather chaotic escape would be having these second thoughts. Well, until we find a better leader, you're the only one we'll look up to, Ryusaki. I mean, look at me! Do I look like I could be such a capable leader as you? You seem to be the type of fellow who can really think on his feet. I'm just a 'let's hit em with all we've got and Sutoku takes tomorrow' kind of leader."

"You would make a fine raiding captain, Keroshi," Ryusaki said with a small smirk on his face.

"Ah, I'm so touched!"

The two then turned their attention toward a female Wind Weasel who stopped next to them, her recently polished rifle held in her hands. "We and a few of my kin were wondering whether it's okay to go hunting for food," she inquired, keeping most of her attention on Ryusaki. "My brother Hiyoto says he sighted a small herd of spirit gazelles earlier this morning."

"Are you Wind Weasels good at sneaking up on and ambushing targets at melee range?" Ryusaki asked her.

"We can use our sickles to kill them but prefer not to, as we will accidentally ingest our own concoction when we eat the animals," she explained to him. "That's how Hiyoto died fifty-two years ago, from eating too much meat from animals he'd killed with his sickles. The concoction cannot easily be boiled out or burned up, as that foolish Onibi pervert who bothered me found out two centuries ago."

"However, we are too close to Suzuka's army to use the rifles, lest our location become known to the enemy," Ryusaki pointed out, thinking for a few minutes before turning back to the Wind Weasel. "What if you strike a powerful blow to the back of the gazelles' neck? Doing so, you would sever the nerves that lead to the heart and lungs, bringing them down quickly and quietly."

The Wind Weasel's eyes widened when she realized that neither of her kin had ever thought of that way of bringing down their quarry. "It will warrant getting much closer to the prey than we hoped to be," she finally said, a fierce grin on her face. "However, it isn't impossible for us Wind Weasels! Thanks for the tip!"

"My pleasure to help," Ryusaki said to her, smiling. "However, be sure to get back here with the kill within the hour. We've got to get moving if we want to stay ahead of Suzuka's army."

"At your command, _captain_," the Wind Weasel said playfully to Ryusaki, giving him a salute and a wink before rejoining the others.

Keroshi turned to face Ryusaki, a sly grin on his face. "See? I told you that you would make a great leader, Ryusaki!" 

Ryusaki only shrugged. "I guess you're right, Keroshi. Anyway, you seem to have gained your kin's respect, too. Why don't you lead them? You can relay my orders to them, too."

"You're the boss!" Keroshi said as he gave Ryusaki a salute. He then became puzzled. "However, who will lead the Snow Sprites, if any of them wants to join us?"

"Until I find a capable leader for them, I will do it personally."

"Good, so what should we do now?"

Ryusaki looked around the cave, his eyes falling on the Wind Weasels and Snow Sprites who were either still asleep or just beginning to stir from sleep. The handful who were wide awake were either talking to each other or checking their weapons. Finally, he turned back to Keroshi, who was inspecting his nails.

"Wake everybody up," Ryusaki finally said to him. "Once we get food, we must get out of here before the Succubi found us."

"In that case," Keroshi said, nodding. "We have no time to waste."

As Keroshi went off to wake up those who were asleep, Ryusaki turn to stare in the direction he threw the dagger, wondering whether the involuntary action was nothing more than a coincidence or not. After a few more minutes of pondering, Ryusaki took a deep breath and went off to join Keroshi in getting everyone up and ready to leave.

It is going to be a long, long day.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Suzuka's Camp

3 minutes later...

"No, I swear that I was too preoccupied with the battle to keep an eye on Ryusaki! Plus, he couldn't have gotten out unless his cage was heavily damaged-."

The Succubus slave driver yelped in fright when a purple bolt of lightning zipped past her head, striking into the ground behind her. With a mask of barely contained fury, Lady Suzuka continued to slowly circle around the hapless Succubus. Surrounding the two in a wide circle were the rest of the Succubi and Anima soldiers, cringing in silent horror at what horrible fate their mistress has in store for the Succubus.

"You allowed Ryusaki to escape your custody," Suzuka growled as she continued to circle the offending Succubus. "Without him, Emperor Sutoku has no gift to give to Shuten-doji. With no gift to give, relations cannot be improved and Shuten-doji will still be very annoyed at Sutoku for his mistake at the Battle of the Tojima floodplains. With no improvement of relations, the Commonwealth will be too unfriendly with the Dominion to form a coordinated assault on the Empire's eastern and southern borders that will eventually finish it off for good, a coordinated attack that will never come because _someone _couldn't even keep her paws on a scrawny and weak-bodied _Pipe Fox _during a little spat!"

"P-please forgive me...," the slave driver pleaded as she cowered visibly. "I w-was d-d-distracted-."

With a loud grunt, Suzuka slammed a fierce roundhouse kick into the slave driver's head which knocked her into the air in a spin. The slave driver gave a painful yelp when she hit the ground hard as her comrades-in-arms sucked in frightened breaths. A large bruise already forming on her face, the slave driver feebly tried to crawl away to safety, only for Suzuka to grab her by her black and frilly blouse and yank her back onto her feet.

"EXCUSES DON'T RECTIFY MISTAKES!" Suzuka screeched as the slave driver cringed, tears already flowing down her cheeks. With an exasperated sigh, Suzuka shoved the slave driver away, causing the latter to trip over her own foot and land on her butt. Glaring at her for a moment, Suzuka finally continued, now a bit calmer. "What is your name?"

"G-Greta, my lady," the slave driver whimpered.

"Fortunately for you _Greta_, killing Konoha have cheered me up a bit so I won't disembowel you today. However, I have a task for you: find Ryusaki and bring him back here _alive_."

"With u-utmost diligence, my lady!" Greta said, nodding furiously as relief flooded over her.

"However," Suzuka's tone became much more darker. "If you return back here without Ryusaki, I won't kill you. Instead, I'll send you to Sutoku and inform him that you was the one who'd allowed his little gift to slip out of your fingers. We'll see if your petty pleas for mercy will work on him."

"I'll get Ryusaki back or die trying, my lady! You have my word on it!"

"I would prefer if you don't die first, Greta. I know where you will respawn and I will pay you and your family a little visit when I find out that you've been killed."

"Then I promise that I won't die, my lady! Just give me enough time to form a search party and I'll hunt him down right this minute!"

Suzuka sneered wildly. "I thought you'd never ask! Inform the other slave drivers to do the same. The rest of the army will remain here for two days. You have until then to bring me back Ryusaki."

"R-right away, my lady!" Getting back up, Greta gave Suzuka a quick bow and ran off to complete her duties. Watching her for a few more seconds, Suzuka turned and frowned at a handful of slave drivers who's lost the most slaves during the battle as they were directed to her by the Succubus she'd ordered to do so earlier. All of them, having seen the exchange between her and Greta, weren't sure whether their mistress would be just as lenient toward them.

"You Succubi are here because you seem to have a problem with keeping your slaves within your grasp," Suzuka growled softly at them, her intense glare causing the accused to avert their gazes. "Because of that, I hereby allow you all to return back to your homes without further ado, with only one condition: you must wear nothing but your underclothes."

One of the Succubi stepped forward as her sisters gasped in shock at Suzuka's words. "Th-this is a major mistake, my lady!" she protested, whimpering as her mistress landed her gaze on her. "With the enemy attacking us so fiercely, we needed all the soldiers we can use-!"

The Succubus screamed when a bolt of lightning struck her dead center in the chest. Screaming, she flew toward a pair of Berettas, who managed to dive out of the way just in time. She finally flew into a tent, knocking it down and entrapping both herself and the sole occupant within the fabric.

"We were fighting against _Kotetsu _and Michizane Bows!" Suzuka yelled, causing the rest of the Succubi being accused to jump. "Surely, you could've left a few soldiers to guard the slaves! We were going to win the battle, anyway!"

Sighing, Suzuka muttered under her breath before turning to glare at the rest of the accused. "Thus, that is why you're being punished. Take off your clothes, I will not repeat myself."

At first, the Succubi looked at each other in ambivalence and embarrassment. Finally, they nodded and began to comply. Folding her arms, Suzuka continued to glare at them as buttons became loosened and zippers became undone.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

About a mile away from the cave

43 minutes later...

With a flick of his two fingers, Keroshi continued to gaze at the spirit gazelles as they continued to graze, unaware of the Wind Weasels bearing down on them. With a nod, Yari, the female Wind Weasel who spoke with Ryusaki earlier, crept behind a nearby boulder and positioned herself close to the nearest gazelle. On the other side of the herd, her brother Hiyoto led two more of his kin closer to the prey. Seeing that everyone were in position, Keroshi slowly raised an arm into the air until the morning sun reflected off the polished surface of his vambrace sickle.

The hunt was on.

Immediately, Hiyoto and his kin leaped out of their hiding places and began to holler. Frightened, the spirit gazelles broke off into a mad dash away from their perceived predators, unknowingly heading straight into a trap prepared by Keroshi and the rest of the hunters. Watching the sun rays pass through the gazelles' slightly transparent bodies as the animals left behind trails of bluish wisps, Keroshi couldn't help but to feel a tinge of pity for the majestic animals. However, his growling stomach only cared about food and Keroshi decided to push the thought out of his head and focus on the single gazelle that was heading in his direction.

As the sounds of hoofbeats got closer, Keroshi counted down as he bid his time. After reaching zero, he quickly sticked out his foot from behind his hiding spot just as the gazelle's front limbs slammed into it. The sudden trip caused the gazelle to flip head over heels and land on its back. As it began to get back up, Keroshi flew toward it at a blinding speed, smashing his elbow into the back of its neck with a sickening crack. Immediately, the spirit gazelle's eyes rolled back in their sockets and the animal dropped lifelessly back onto the ground. Several surprised and frightened animal cries rang out all around him as some of the other gazelles were subjected to the same fate.

Soon, the Wind Weasels were left with five dead spirit gazelles at their feet.

Nursing the sore leg he'd used to trip the gazelle, Keroshi watched lazily as the rest of the spirit gazelles ran off into the distance. Though spirits who'd never spent their lives hunting such game would've complained about the rest of the prey being allowed to escape, Keroshi and his kin have their reasons. After all, carrying too many gazelle carcasses will slow them down and, if Ryusaki was right, speed is all they needed to avoid being recaptured by their former captors. Also, preservation of the meat is an issue, too.

"Okay guys, great job," Keroshi said as he tied the limbs of his kill together with a rope he'd found earlier. He then began to hold the rope over his shoulder to drag the gazelle as the other Wind Weasels did the same. "Let's get back to the cave."

''''''''''''

Slowly breathing in and out to maintain his focus, Ryusaki held out Kamikashi as he assumed a guarding stance. His eyes closed, he can sense the waves of awe and interest coming from those who were watching him as they washed over him. Slowly twirling the katana around his fingers, Ryusaki assumed the stance again before slowly reversing his grip on the handle and sheathing the sword.

As he opened his eyes, Ryusaki smiled slightly when the same Snow Sprite who'd told him about the Tundra Wave ritual last night walked up to him with a purpose. He then shivered slightly as the frigid air that seemed to surround her like an aura washed over him. After she looked him up and down with curiosity in her eyes, the Snow Sprite began to ask, "How come you're playing with your sword?"

Ryusaki chuckled lightheartedly. "I'm actually maintaining focus and discipline. It's what I do to relax."

The Snow Sprite blinked in confusion. "It seems like you were actually practicing your sword swings, too."

"That too is true," Ryusaki smiled as he reached down and rubbed the Snow Sprite's hair playfully. The Snow Sprite shrank back shyly, blushing. "Anyway, I'd never got to thank you for the help you and your people gave to us last night. What is your name?"

At first, the Snow Sprite looked at her feet, probably feeling unworthy to answer him. Finally, she looked up and smiled slightly. "Fubuki."

"Nice to meet you, Fubuki-san!" Ryusaki said, giving her a respectful bow. "I'm Ryusaki and the Wind Weasel who hangs out with me is Keroshi."

"Um... thanks for everything, Ryusaki... sama," Fubuki said, blushing heavily as Ryusaki patted her on the head.

"No problem, Fubuki-san!" Ryusaki said to her warmheartedly as the others began to turn their heads toward the cave's entrance just in time to see Keroshi and the other Wind Weasels come back from the hunt, bringing enough spirit gazelle to feed everyone and still have leftovers. Standing up, Ryusaki look at Fubuki as her stomach growled in anticipation. "Well, it was nice meeting you. Enjoy your breakfast and get ready to move soon."

With a quick nod, Fubuki ran off to join her kin as Ryusaki looked on. As the Wind Weasels hunters began to skin the animals as the ones who stayed lit several campfires, Ryusaki smiled sadly, still wishing that none of this had to happen. If there was no more war or slavery, he would spend the next millennium with his family, living in complete happiness and security. These spirits, who now looked up to him, would also be able to live peaceful lives. Yari and Hiyoto would spend their lifetimes hunting choice game, Fubuki would play with her friends and siblings in the wintry realm she called home, and Keroshi... will still be Keroshi.

"I suppose that there's a method to this madness...," Ryusaki finally said as he went over to help the others clean and cook the gazelle. "I just have to find the urge to discover it."

''''''''''''''''

"Alright ladies... and the few gents we have with us!" The Succubus lieutenant barked as she scanned the assembled search parties before her with a piercing glare. Their spirit steeds nickered in the morning air as their Succubi and Anima riders continued to listen. "Your orders are to search in a ten mile radius around this camp and to bring back every escaped captive you find! Lady Suzuka wants me to inform you that this army will stay put for two days while you search for the slaves. You have until then to complete your task and to return back here! Otherwise, you will be left behind and you've better hope that you have a map and a good sense of direction to lead you to Shutenmaji, the Commonwealth's capital, because that's where we're going! Any questions?"

A Succubus raised a hand. "Is the spirit steeds really necessary?" she asked the lieutenant. "I mean, the slaves can hear us coming just by the galloping alone. Why don't we just fly after them? It's faster and we can even catch those stupid Wind Weasels, too!"

The lieutenant looked at the Succubus as if she'd just said the stupidest thing in the Spirit World. "Last time I checked, Berettas and Naginatas cannot fly," she said slowly. "Besides, can you really fly for a long time without tiring? Can you really pay attention to the other slaves while you're dogfighting a Wind Weasel in mid-air? When you trying to hang onto a handful of slaves who will do their utmost to escape again, would those pretty little wings of yours match the strength of a steed?"

The Succubus shrank back as she blushed in embarrassment. "Um, no ma'am..."

"Good!" The lieutenant was now a bit annoyed and was trying her utmost not to humiliate the Succubus in front of her comrades. "Anymore questions?"

When no one replied, the lieutenant gave them all a dismissive wave. "Now, get out of here and bring those slaves back!"

Immediately, the search parties split and rode out of the camp in different directions. In the camp, the rest of the Succubi and Anima shouted and whistled as they cheered them on, wishing them success. Overlooking the riders from a vantage point was Suzuka, who was still a bit sour from the events that transpired. However, she knew that once Ryusaki was recaptured again, she will be relieved, even if he is the only slave to be recaptured.

_"He's a Pipe Fox, anyway," _she thought to herself. "_He has to submit one way or another. Besides, it's his people 's_ nature to do so."

Strangely though, Suzuka couldn't help but to wonder whether Ryusaki could possible be different from his kin. After all, never in her long life had a Pipe Fox ever attacked her, even in anger. Usually, any other Pipe Fox would've been too fearful to even show a hint of anger. Even those who struggled against her Succubi would've immediately cowered at her presence.

Suzuka shrugged as she walked back to her tent. If Ryusaki can resist even her, Suzuka shall see how he'd fare against Sumizome or even Sutoku himself.

''''''''''''''

"Don't lag behind or I'll leave you! You there, pay attention and don't bump into your fellow soldiers!"

With a tired sigh, Greta spurred her steed faster as she shouted the orders, clearly not in a good mood. Earlier, she'd seen her kin, the slave drivers who'd lost the most slaves, being sent back home in their underwear and carrying nothing but their weapons and a few days supply of food. Their tear-filled cries of humiliation and sadness caused her heart to ache and Greta began to secretly hate Suzuka a bit more. Succubi are sensitive spirits who cared about their appearances more than anything else. Though they often seduce both male humans and spirits for the sole purpose of sucking their life energy, they are not lewd enough to walk around in such a manner, at least in the open!

All the most reason to blame the Pipe Fox who wouldn't behave himself!

Gripping the reins tighter, Greta then thought about the other Pipe Fox whose Ryusaki couldn't get along with, the taller male who called him a traitor and fought him inside his cage last night. No matter where she looked, Greta couldn't find him. Finally, Greta concluded that he may've been killed during the fighting and has respawned back to his hometown. However, she was no longer worried about him.

Thinking about the Pipe Fox who'd put her in this predicament, Greta vowed to recapture him no matter what it takes so that she can take her frustrations out on him. Sure Suzuka wanted Ryusaki to be captured alive but she didn't say that he couldn't be beaten to a pulp first.

''''''''''''''''''''

After everyone had eaten their fill of gazelle meat, they tightly wrapped the rest of the raw meat in tight bundles of whatever leaves and sticks they could find and set out in the direction they were heading last night. Though Keroshi was worried about the preservation of the meat, as there were no salt on hand, Fubuki offered a solution: have her kin carry the strips of meat instead. That way, the Snow Sprites' wintry auras can keep the meat nice and refrigerated.

Needless to say, everyone considered it to be a splendid idea.

Scanning the horizon, Ryusaki continued to lead the Wind Weasels and Snow Sprites through a rocky grassland, a hand resting on Kamikashi's handle. Without a map, he wasn't sure where he was leading them or even in what direction he was heading. However, if it was truly his destiny to lead them, a destiny he didn't yet fully understand, he was sure that fate will lead him to the right place.

After leading the small group for about two hours, Ryusaki suddenly stopped and brought everyone to a halt with a gesture. Seeing the Pipe Fox tense, the Wind Weasels and Snow Sprites gripped their weapons tighter. Confused, Keroshi scanned the immediate environment before asking," What's the matter?"

Ryusaki didn't answer right away. In fact, his ears rotated independently and his eyes narrowed. "Do you guys hear horses?"

Keroshi and some of the others shook their heads. "Nuh-uh, our hearing isn't as good as yours, Ryusaki."

"They're after us," Ryusaki simply said before turning rapidly to the others as he talked in rapid succession. "The Succubi are upon us. However, we know they're coming so that gives us enough time to hide. The Wind Weasels will hide in the tall grass around here, as their clothing closely resemble the colors of dried grass and shadows. Since your clothing stands out as much as mine; however, you Snow Sprites will remain out of sight with me. Nobody are allowed to open fire on the enemy until they clearly indicate that they see you or if I order you to do so. Now, lets hide before they get here!"

Quickly, everyone got in their positions. Hiding behind a large boulder with a handful of Snow Sprites, Ryusaki unsheathed Kamikashi and waited. Beside him, the Snow Sprites were breathing rapidly, some in mortal fear and others in anticipation of the coming fight. Breathing slowly to maintain his calm, Ryusaki muttered a brief prayer to his ancestors and gripped his katana tighter as the galloping became audible to everybody. After a few minutes, a medium sized search party arrived at the scene. Counting fourteen Succubi, eight Berettas and ten Naginatas, Ryusaki knew that his force of thirty-three Wind Weasels and twenty-two Snow Sprites outnumbered them. All he have to do is to order the Snow Sprites to encumber the enemy and their steeds with another Tundra Wave so that they cannot run away easily, allowing the Wind Weasels to finish them off once and for all. However, he don't know whether there were any nearby search parties that will converge onto the location at the sound of a gunshot. Additionally, most Succubi know how to use fire-based abilities, which they will use to counteract Tundra Wave and the Naginatas are just as tenacious as the Kotetsu if not more so, making them more able to resist and to overcome the limb numbing effect of the wintry spell.

This will be a tough fight... if he chooses to start it.

"Aw, how long do we have to look for these slaves?!" one of the Succubi complained impatiently. "Couldn't we just consider them to be completely lost to us?"

"Sure, if you want Lady Suzuka to gut you like a fish!" her superior growled, shaking her head in pity. "We've not been gone for a couple of hours and you're already homesick. Perhaps you should resign from the army the moment we get to the Commonwealth."

The Succubus turned to glare at her. "Are you saying that I don't have the guts to be a soldier?"

"Yes."

The Succubus sighed as she looked down. "I guess you're right."

"_Capitan_, I can see a couple of tracks here!" a female Beretta announced. Having dismounted, she was squatting next to a place where the grass had been trampled.

The Succubus leader grinned and unsheathed her longsword. "Search this area thoroughly!" she ordered as her charges began to disperse. "Leave no stone unturned! Alert the others when you find the slaves!"

As the riders began to search for the escaped slaves, the Beretta who noticed the tracks mounted back onto her steed and followed them. As the breeze washed over her, it tugged at a rolled parchment in a side pocket of her backpack. Aiming her namesake pistol here and there, the Beretta scanned the surrounding grass as she wondered whether there were any slaves hiding in it, watching her closely while waiting for the right time to strike.

Little did she know that she was right all along.

Watching the lone Beretta pass by him, Keroshi trailed her as quietly as he could. Inwardly, he was both glad and relieved, as she has unwittingly fell into his trap and that she was alone. Now, all he have to do is to spring the trap.

After a few more minutes, the Beretta arrived at where the tracks suddenly ended. Confused, she looked around as the wind played with the grass, uncertain about whether she should search this particular area or go back. As she struggled between the two choices, Keroshi slowly crept up to her from behind until he was close enough to reached for the parchment that caught his interest earlier. With a great effort, he stood on a tip-toe and attempted to reach for the parchment. After stretching a bit more, Keroshi finally was able to grab the parchment and pull it out. Unfortunately, at that exact moment, the Beretta turned around and saw him. A few seconds of silence passed between the two.

"Oh... crap...," Keroshi breathed, holding the parchment in his right hand.

Growling in Italian, the Beretta whipped her pistol around to aim at his head. Instinctively, Keroshi slashed his left sickle upward, knocking the pistol out of her hand. Keroshi then began to get into a guard stance when the Beretta jumped off of her steed and pounced on him, tackling him to the ground. Despite being about a head shorter than him, the Beretta surprisingly matched his strength. In fact, she was pinning him to the ground by his shoulders.

"Give up, _fuggitivo_!" she grunted, pressing a knee to his groin and causing him to wince. "You're going a-back to the a-camp!"

With a pained groan, Keroshi's fingers wrapped around a rock. "Like hell I will!" he growled before slamming it into the Beretta's head, knocking her out cold. The rock hit with such force that it broke in two pieces that fell back to the ground. Pushing the unconscious Beretta off of him, Keroshi gingerly got onto his knees and pocketed the parchment. He then took off her backpack and looked inside. The backpack contained camping supplies, as well as dried foodstuffs and a small sack of silver. Putting the backpack on, Keroshi bit down on the pain as he lifted the Beretta over a shoulder and sat her upright onto the steed. Tying her hands to the reins and her feet to the stirrups, Keroshi made sure that she appeared to be sitting as naturally as possible before giving the steed a huge slap on the rear. Immediately, the spirit steed galloped off with the unconscious Beretta bouncing in the saddle like a ragdoll. Grinning like a madman, Keroshi shrank back into the tall grass and watched the scene unfold.

''''''''''''''''''''

"This grass is too tall!" a Succubus whined as she poked a clump of grass with her longsword. "We could be walking among them by now and not even know it!'

"Fine then!" The Succubus leader was getting weary of her kin's whining and complaints. Many Succubi and Incubi are creatures of pleasure and comfort; they're not used to hard work, at least work that interested them. If only she was as intimidating as Suzuka. "Why don't we just torch this entire place? Maybe they won't be _too_ badly scorched in the process."

"That's a great idea, ma'am! They won't know what hit them-!"

"We are _not_ going to burn them up! No unnecessary harm will be done to these slaves! I don't want to be boiled alive by Lady Suzuka!"

"But you said-."

The leader sighed deeply as she shook her head facepalming. "That was sarcasm, you dumb-!"

The leader paused when she saw one of the Beretta gallop off rapidly in a certain direction. Bouncing strangely in her saddle, the Beretta seemed to be chasing someone. However, the tall grass were obscuring who exactly the Beretta was pursuing, if anyone at all.

"Everyone, after her! Help her catch that Wind Weasel! Rumor has it that they can closely match a steed's speed!" Urging her mount forward, the Succubus leader raced after the Beretta with her followers in tow. Soon, the search party left the scene in a rising cloud of dust.

Feeling that there were no more hostiles nearby, Ryusaki placed two fingers under his tongue and whistled. Quickly, the Wind Weasels climbed out of the tall grass and regrouped around him. As the Snow Sprites huddled behind Ryusaki, Keroshi arrived, grinning wildly as he held up a rolled up piece of parchment like a hard-won trophy. "Guess what this is?" he asked playfully. "I pickpocketed a Beretta for it."

"A map?" Ryusaki said, feeling much more hopeful than before. However, he still felt that something was missing.

"That's right! With this baby, we can pinpoint exactly where we are. That way, we can plan our raids more efficiently." Keroshi paused when he saw Ryusaki's eyes narrow in concentration. "Er, what's wrong?"

"While a map itself is good," Ryusaki was beginning to say. "We still need a notable landmark like as least a village or even a person who knows this area . Otherwise, we're still lost."

Pocketing the map, Keroshi yawned and cracked his knuckles. "Well, until we find either of those two things, we might as well keep moving until we run into a signpost or something."

Ryusaki glanced in the direction the search party went. "Most importantly, we must keep moving just in case those guys come back."

"Yeah, I suspect that my little trick won't fool them for long," Keroshi said as the group continued onward.

Ryusaki didn't bother asking Keroshi about the nature of the trick. Perhaps he'd feared that the details were too bitter for his taste or perhaps it didn't really mattered to him since it clearly worked. All Ryusaki cared about is making sure that the time bought as a result didn't go to waste.

''''''''''''''''''''

As the day dragged on, Ryusaki's small group continued onward haggardly, taking the few and far in between breaks they dared to take while dodging the occasional patrols that came by. Though they were able to escape each encounter due to both Ryusaki's stratagems and Keroshi's cunning, as well as luck, they were nearly found on a few occasions. Of course, on one occasion did they have to actually fight their captors. Fortunately, their Succubi attackers were so outnumbered that they had to retreat, leaving six of their kin who were killed in the fighting to evaporate on the rocky ground. Ryusaki's band got off easy, with only two Wind Weasels and one Snow Sprite wounded, as well as extra ammo and foodstuffs looted from the Succubi's corpses. Though Ryusaki's healing skills eventually healed the wounded back to full strength, he knew that the Succubi will be back in greater numbers and decided that they couldn't afford to allow them to catch up with them.

For a long time, the band didn't even stop to take a break.

As the sun began to dip into the horizon, the small band arrived at what remained of a decrepit barn, with most of its walls still standing. Surrounding the ruined structure was what appeared to be a badly scorched farmland, with old craters ruining the monotony of the plowed ground. Judging by the hardness of the soil, Ryusaki deducted that the farm was caught in the middle of a fierce battle between two very powerful forces long ago, a battle that probably came before the farmer could even sprinkle new seeds into the soil. The light of the setting sun reflected off of pieces of metal lying in the field. A closer look revealed them to be broken farming tools as well as rusting weapons the looters overlooked when they won the battle. Though they were anything but weapons belonging to Anima for obvious reasons, they were so completely useless that they were discarded.

As the sky became darker, the small band took shelter inside the nearly roofless barn. However, as they feared that the Succubi could still be around, they were consigned to lighting a single campfire as a few of them blocked the windows with debris so that no light can escape. As Ryusaki used his tail to cover up a large crack in the wall that opened up to the outside, he watched as the band took turns roasting their strips of gazelle meat on the campfire as he was already thinking about their next move. Earlier, when they arrived at the farm, Ryusaki noticed a lone road running alongside the barn. Knowing that farmers often need roads to lead them to their markets, Ryusaki figured that if they follow that road, it should take them to a village or even a city, especially one that is on the map Keroshi has. From there, Ryusaki will not only figure out where they are but can even plan their next move, which may include which of the Dominion's villages to raid first.

After they have eaten their fill, each of the band's members who'd volunteered to keep watch for the captors sat outside the barn and kept a steady vigil for the telltale lights of search parties. When his turn came, Ryusaki sat atop of the rusted remains of a ruined tractor and concentrated, using his spiritualist senses to reveal any hidden enemies that conventional eyesight couldn't. Finding none, Ryusaki looked into the night air, confident that they will find their exact location tomorrow. He also thought of his family and began to wonder whether they were either still praying and hoping that he will return to them or whether they have concluded that they will never see him again and had moved on. Regardless, he still missed them.

"Someday, I will see you again," he silently vowed as he continued to scan the nightscape for enemies. "Even if it's the last thing I do."

'''''''''''''''''''

When the sun peeked over the horizon, the small band woke up after an uneventful night and continued onward after eating breakfast. Leading them down the road, Ryusaki knew that they were about fifteen miles from Suzuka's army. However, he wasn't going to take any chances so he decided to remained vigilant, not allowing himself to relax until they were no longer in the open. As early morning turned into noon, the band continued onward as the meadow slowly gave way to arid plains.

As the band climbed up a hill, Ryusaki suddenly held up a hand, stopping the group. At first, Keroshi and the others became tensed as they feared that another search party was coming after them. However, when Ryusaki pointed at something in the distance, Keroshi looked at where he was pointing and realized that it was something completely different.

In the distance were a group of individuals who were dressed in light gray and black clothing. Numbering around twenty-three, they appeared to be surrounding someone who was sporting pink hair. However, the people were too far away for Ryusaki to make out any details.

"So, who do you think these people are and what are they doing?" Keroshi asked Ryusaki.

"I don't know," Ryusaki said to him as he kept his eyes on the people. "However, if those people wearing gray are goons who are troubling a single traveler, we got to help him. Perhaps he knows where we are."

Keroshi passively stroke the flat of his sickles. "So, what's the plan, Ryusaki?"

"We'll sneak downhill so that they won't notice us. Once we hide the others in the shrubbery, I will sneak closer to them to see what they're up to. When the time come to attack, I will whistle and we will save the pink-haired person," Ryusaki turned to Keroshi. "Do you want to accompany me, Keroshi?"

Keroshi only smirked. "What are friends for?"

Sharing his smirk, Ryusaki turned to speak to the others. "Okay, we got ourselves twenty three possible hostile people ahead who got a traveler surrounded. If we rescue him, he may tell us where we are and we'll be able to work our way from there. Here's the plan..."

'''''''''''''

After the others have taken up hiding places within the sparse shrubbery, Ryusaki and Keroshi crept closer to the strange group, holding onto branches to disguise themselves as bushes. When they got close enough to see the individuals better, Keroshi gave a silent gasp and quickly tapped Ryusaki on the shoulder. Turning to him, Ryusaki then turned to where he was pointing.

"You know these guys, Keroshi?" he whispered to him as he kept his eyes on the strangers.

"I know who they _are_," Keroshi whispered back, slowly nodding. "They belong to the Rat Clan, one of the most powerful crime syndicates in the Spirit World. They may look like low-rated thugs but they're very dangerous and numerous, not to mention having many connections with criminal groups in most large cities. You do not want to make them your enemy and then expect to remain safe on their turf."

Ryusaki gave Keroshi a sneer before shrugging nonchalantly. "Likewise, they can't expect to harass people and expect no one to stop them."

Keroshi scratched the side of his neck. "In that case," he finally said. "That's where we come in. I just hope that we don't make them as a whole angry enough to come after us before we are ready, though."

"Then we will try to scare them away first," Ryusaki assured him as he began to crawl closer to the group of Rats. "Now, let's go see who the Rats are cornering."

After crawling closer to the group of Rats, most of who were armed with various blunt and bladed melee weapons while the precious few were armed with handguns, Ryusaki and Keroshi suddenly stopped and began to blush heavily when they got a better look at the lone traveler. Boasting an attractive and short figure, the female spirit reminded Ryusaki of the Succubi he was once enslaved to and from whom he was now trying to escape. However, she was completely different from them, as her purple wings were stronger and resembled those of a bat instead of a raven. Wearing seductive clothing that were in shades of purple and black, her long tail ended in a large and fleshy magenta heart. Golden bracelets dangle from her wrists, with a few piercing her wings. A flat bundle of hair strands sticked out from each side of her short pink hair, curving toward the scalp. Her purple eyes darted playfully from Rat to Rat as she smirked nonchalantly at them, definitely not the terrified person Ryusaki imagined her to be. She was busy talking with the Rats.

'''''''''

"My my, don't you little mice have cheese to eat or something?" the female said, winking playfully as she wagged a finger. "Aren't you afraid of getting killed by someone who's worse than the cat?"

"You think you're tough?" a female Rat hissed, whirling a crowbar around her fingers. "Even if you can shoot lightning bolts out of your eyes or something, we still outnumber you. Even if you manage to kill us all while receiving a few bruises, the rest of the Clan will find you and we will never forget a face."

"Brave words coming from a soon-to-be-dead Rat, especially one who's nothing but a low-level thug running around on a stationary wheel at the amusement of your superiors. Pity."

"You have no right to insult anyone, Lilith," the male Rat, who appeared to be the leader of the group, growled softly at the pink-haired traveler. "In fact, you are as deceitful and as untrustworthy as you are beautiful. The Boss Rat wants us to make sure that you will never play us along with those Thompson Anima bastards. The Rat Clan will no longer befriend anyone who doesn't serve us wholeheartedly!"

"Ah, so this is what this all about: me being the middleman?" Lilith leaned back, giggling to herself. "I am a provider of information and the sharer of rumors, not a thug! My services are independent of the authority of both your precious Rat Clan and the Thompsons. I am my own boss per se, only a freelancer who offers info and... other services to those who are willing to pay."

"If you won't swear allegiance to us," the leader Rat threatened as he leveled his pistol at Lilith, who simply rolled her eyes. "Then you're just as good as a snitch and a double agent, a dead one of course."

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, two strangers emerged from their hiding places, causing everyone to turn to look at them. He recognized one of them as a Wind Weasel who was armed with his kin's traditional weapons and a breech-loading rifle. However, the other person was someone he didn't expect. Despite his anger at Lilith, he found himself laughing derisively at the person, especially at what he wore.

"Well, what do we have here?" the leader Rat snickered as his followers exchanged looks among each other. "Hell itself must've frozen over for even a Pipe Fox to approach me as if he wanted to fight me! Go back to your shrine, little girly-man!"

''''''''''''''''''''

"Nobody has to die today," Ryusaki responded coolly, holding Kamikashi in a guard position as he locked eyes with who he presumed to be the leader of the group. Taller and stronger than the rest, he was intimidating indeed, even without the facial scars. Ryusaki was surprised that he was even calm enough to not to stammer in fear. "Just put your weapons up and leave her alone and you will still draw breath."

"Hi sweethearts, you want to play too?!" Lilith called out to Keroshi and Ryusaki, giggling despite her predicament. As Ryusaki blushed heavily, Keroshi drooled as a spurt of blood dripped from one of his nostrils.

"Put our weapons up?!" the leader Rat repeated, a dangerous sneer on his face. As his group shared their leader's expression, he then continued, aiming his gun at Ryusaki. "Now that you little girls are here, what do you say we have a little fun, eh? We shall see how manly you really are!"

"I beg to differ," Ryusaki simply said before placing two fingers in his mouth and whistling. Tilting his head in confusion and tension, the leader Rat was about to speak when he heard the cocking of guns to his left. Turning to look, his eyes and those of his group bulged out of their sockets when they found themselves staring down the barrels of no less than thirty-two rifles. Behind the Wind Weasels, twenty-two Snow Sprites were preparing to direct a storm of razor sharp icicles at them.

"What the hell...," the leader Rat breathed.

"Even if you managed to kill both of us and Lilith, I can guarantee that none of you will leave here alive. That being said, why don't you simply scurry back to your nests like the rats you are and forget that all of this even happened?"

The leader Rat's expression slowly morphed into that of unspeakable fury. "Listen, Pipe Fox, and listen well," he growled, pulling down his hoodie to reveal a tattoo on the right side of his head that resembled a fierce-looking white rat. "You may've won this time but I assure you that you've just made an enemy of the Rat Clan. No matter where you are or who you're with, we will find you. We will hunt you down to the ends of this world, even if you go to the Physical World. We will torment those who aid you and aid those who torment you. You can't win against the Rat Clan because we're everywhere!"

"You heard the Pipe Fox," Lilith smirked as she yawned in mock boredom. "Take a hike or die."

The leader glared at her momentarily. "This isn't over, Lilith!" He then turned to his group. "Let's get out of here, Rats!"

As the Rats began to leave, Ryusaki and Keroshi walked up to Lilith, who winked at them as she clapped playfully. "My, what a performance!" she said as Keroshi wiped blood off his face with an arm. "Judging from the fact that I'd never heard of you before, though, you must be from a faraway land. You're a long way from home, sugar."

Ryusaki exchanged glances with Keroshi before speaking, "Judging from what I've seen, you must be accustomed to danger. I would've been afraid if I was in your predicament."

"Well, when you've been dealing with Rats for a long time, you'll even develop a taste for danger," Lilith shrugged as the rest of Ryusaki's group arrived, most of them giving Lilith wary glares. She noticed this and turned to Ryusaki. "Your followers seem to mistrust me."

"That would be because you look like a Succubus," Ryusaki answered, chuckling nervously.

Lilith rolled her eyes and laughed. "*_Pfft_!* Please don't compare me to those low-level harlots! Even in their transmigrated form, they will always be the cushy, whimpering little girls they are. The Incubi they call their male counterparts are not so different. Speaking of which, I've heard a rumor that Emperor Sutoku was invading one of Amaterasu's provinces up north and enslaving-," Seeing Ryusaki become downcast, Lilith slowly continued, "That must be when you come in."

"Right," Ryusaki muttered. "Two nights ago, we broke free from Lady Suzuka's army during a battle and have been running away ever since. Now, we are looking for a village or city to stay in so that we can pinpoint our exact location."

At the mention of Lady Suzuka, Lilith narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "Say, do you know where Suzuka is heading?"

"She was going toward the Commonwealth. She was going to hand me over to Shuten-doji to be her personal spiritualist."

Lilith breathed a sigh of relief. "In that case," she finally said. "You're in luck. We're close to the village of Edochi. It's out of the way of Suzuka's path and within the Golden Sun Empire's borders. It don't usually get raided by the Commonwealth's forces as it isn't that valuable. I'll lead you there as a token of my appreciation. Introductions can wait, though: those Rat Clan cannon fodder are likely to be back in greater numbers and they'll know that you'll be in Edochi. Be prepare to fight if need be."

"Thank you," Ryusaki said to her, bowing in respect. He then turned to the others. "We're going to a village and our enemies could be preparing a retaliatory attack so keep your wits sharp and your weapons at your sides at all times. We may have to fight before this day is out."

The Wind Weasels and Snow Sprites voiced their understanding.

Ryusaki turned to Keroshi. "When those Rats come, they will most likely come after me first. If I go down first, I want you-."

Keroshi shook his head and placed a hand on his shoulder, interrupting him. "Save that talk for the deathbed or during a hopeless situation!" he said nonchalantly, smirking. "As long as we stick together, those two-legged rodents will be sent home to their mommies in an unending supply of body bags! Rats are no match for Wind Weasels!"

Ryusaki nodded as Lilith led them to Edochi, where Ryusaki knew that a greater test lie. "Let's hope that it'll be as easy as you say it is, Keroshi. Let's hope that it'll be easy."


End file.
